Here's a quick look at the app 알뜰교통카드 (Discount Transit Card).
UPDATE AUG 2023:
Looks like the Discount Transit Card program is getting an overhaul and is shutting down this app. The idea was good, but turns out it's hard to verify those "last mile" foot/bike journies, and the fact that it's an app you need to install meant that the elderly (i.e. the people most likely to use this) couldn't really use it.
Instead, the same basic transportation discounts and data extrapolation (via use of the card only) will continue in the new "K-Pass" (K-패스).
Background
I noticed a friend deactivate some kind of location tracking app when he arrived at the spot we were meeting at. I thought maybe it was some kind of exercise app. But turns out it it was an app called 알뜰교통카드 ("Discount Transit Card"). I was curious so asked him some questions about it.
Turns out it is the #1 app on the Korean version of the iOS App Store in the transportation category and pretty highly utilized on Google Play too.
How it works is kind of neat.
Register
Beforehand, you connect your transportation payment card to the app. It can be nearly any card: your bank credit card that you can "beep" into subways/busses with, a standard T-money card, even some NFC cards. You just add the 16-digit card number to the app to connect them.
Activate
Then, you fire up the app when you begin your public transit journey, where ever you're starting from. When you finish the journey, stop the app.
Contribute your data
It uses this data, combined with the data from your payment card tapping, to gather an overall picture of your public transportation needs. This way they can gauge things like how far people are walking to their public transit access points, points of congestion, how long transfers take, etc. Supposedly this data will be utilized to better design the public transit infrastructure.
This could be nice if, for example, there's no bus stop by your home and you walk far to get to one, only to have that bus be inconvenient to get where you need to go. Imagine this appearing in the data, and your local gov takes action to route a bus stop near you. Win/win for everyone.
Get discounts and/or points
Do you do this just to be a good citizen? No. Of course not. You get paid! That's why it's the "discount" transit card. You can earn discounts on your overall transit costs (even up to the 20%-30% range) or garner points under various point card schemes. No wonder this is a popular app. Get discounts/points for the commute you have to do anyway, why not?
You even get bonus double points on special days like Earth Day or days designated as dangerous Fine Dust level days.
Looks like you need to use public transit more than 15 times/month to earn points though. So for the average visitor or occasional user, don't bother. But if you are commuting every day, maybe give it a shot.
Frankly, I do not envy the people who would want/need to use this. I am more than happy driving my own car to work. And trust me, I bet most Koreans are happy I'm not sweating up the air around them anyway. But it's interesting to see that a scheme like this is offered. It's a great use of Big Data that could have real, practical benefits in people's lives.
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