Friday, January 26, 2007

Hmmmm - could it be the card itself causing problems?

Colleen our now famous Subway Knitter has picked up a following in Chicago as well.

The Chicago blogs while complimenting Colleen on her idea are wondering if the current cold weather in Chicago is causing their Chicago Card to be acting up.

Chicago uses a different fare collecting system than Boston but both use smartcards with a RFID chip inside.

Anyhow I will link to the discussions in Chicago and see where this theory goes.

Can Mittens Solve Chicago Card's Cold Weather Woes?

6 comments:

Dani B. said...

And their system is designed by cubic...

Fenway said...

Dani B. said...

And their system is designed by cubic...


I don't know if Cubic went to a third party for the chip or did it in house.

S&B used this company from Israel for RFID support.

SCHEIDT & BACHMANN AND OTI TO PROVIDE THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY WITH MASS
TRANSIT TICKETING SOLUTIONS

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth I'll do an experiment today: no mittens for the card (it's too cold for simple wool anyway) and I'll keep the card in my bag on the way to the train.

Anonymous said...

Unlikely.

The card, whether a passive or active device, contains a flat antenna array and in the center a semiconductor chip. A quick perusal of some data sheets this morning indicates that most RFID devices have an operating temperature range of -20 to +85C. It would have to be either so hot or cold that you could not bear to hold it for the card itself to fail.

Unless, of course, the entire system is junk and designed to fail, assuring many jobs and contracts from now until eternity.

/mark richards
editor
badtransit.com

Ron Newman said...

-20C is -4 F, and I can certainly imagine a Chicago winter getting that cold. Sounds like RFID would be a very bad idea in Minneapolis or Edmonton or Moscow.

Fenway said...

Our frozen Subway Knitter sent me an email about her experience this cold, cold, Friday morning

For what it's worth I tried my well-chilled CharlieCard at the Forest Hills Orange Line this morning. Mine worked like a charm.

Colleen