I would like to opt out of this, but how? I don't think my life has improved in the least since my bus pass stopped being a piece of paper I replaced every month. Physical cash is a good concept, it works and it would continue to do so until the sun burns out. Even before we get to all the derived socio-political consequences of all of this, it's just not necessary at all.
> I don't think my life has improved in the least since my bus pass stopped being a piece of paper I replaced every month.
Did you use the bus a lot when they only took cash? Hope you carry small change because the driver won't take a 20. Hope you like waiting whilst someone counts out coins. Hope you enjoy watching an argument when someone is 10pence short of fare etc etc etc.
Contactless payments are in general significantly easier and quicker. I reckon the time for 10 people to get on a bus now is less than half what it used to be on average.
Some places only took paper - prepaid tickets you (possibly) validated in machines and paper monthly passes. Other places would have a driver and a conductor for paying/checking tickets. Neither of those involved the bus waiting for people to pay, and many of these systems are still used today.
I liked when my train started offering digital tickets. I switched to using their app immediately. The first of the month would have very long ticket lines and you would have to arrive early. Not to mention their system always having load issues on the first of the month. Using the app, I could buy my ticket as I sat down on the train.
I feel your comment, perhaps inadvertently, really describes the whole issue. Privacy has been traded for convenience, bit by bit, app by app, and very few seem to still care about what has been lost along the way.
I include myself in this, I signed up for my auto-renewing subway pass as soon as I could. I worry about this culture of acceptance of convenience over privacy, and I don't feel there is much I can do to stop it even in my own life. All of my friends have Venmo for example; am I going to be the one person they can't easily split bills with? and look like a tin-hatter all the while?
On our train network, you can buy paper ticker anonymously, or you can buy e-tickers with your name on it.
They don't really need your name to reasonably prevent fraud / reuse, they don't even check your name/id. GDPR says you shouldn't collect PII without good cause, yet noone cares to do anything about it.
