B E B E R E

My trainspotter friend in London likes to keep me up on the latest developments in public transport in his hometown. Mentioned that the Tube had switched over to a refillable pass system that they call the Oyster Card. Interesting. Since I'm a rare bird, a bipedal commuter, I'm not always up on what the MBTA's up to. Did find out that we have a similar pass setup here. To further his efforts towards global public transport understanding, my friend compiled this list:

Boston > Charlie Card (Named after the Kingston Trio tune, of course)
London > Oyster Card
Hong Kong > Octopus
Manchester > Readycard
SmarTrip > Washington DC
Touch 'N Go > Malaysia

Though from an engineering standpoint he finds these passes pretty nifty, from a privacy point of view, they're a little unnerving as movements can be tracked (and attached to a name). This did strike me as a fair bit Big Brother-y.

Asked him if he knew anything about the bit transit strike in NYC last month. He didn't. He did send a little hint* that they've got similar problems (not all can be pinned on privatisation and the Thatcher, either) with the Underground.

*funny as all getout, but definitely not work safe, for the faint of heart, or for those not interested in quaint britishisms.