Article Highlights
Ultra-wideband technology, or UWB, has been touted as a technology that can enable completely hands-free mobile ticketing at busy gated metro stations. But the technology faces several challenge and rollouts are believed to be years away.
• Table: Pros and Cons of UWB for Fare Payments, Aug. 2025
• Document: FiRa Consortium White Paper on Use of UWB for Fare Collection, July 2023
• BYD SkyShuttle (Shenzhen)
• Seoul Metro
• MTR (Hong Kong)
• NXP Semiconductors
• Infineon Technologies
• Apple
• Google
• Samsung
• Qorvo
• FiRa Consortium
Pitched as a technology to enable completely hands-free mobile ticketing at busy gated metro stations, ultra-wideband is likely still years away from possibly making good on its promise of providing an alternative to contactless tap-in and tap-out and other fare-payment methods.
Ultra-wideband, or UWB, offers a faster and more accurate option as compared with such other location-based technologies used for mobile ticketing as Bluetooth or GPS–potentially enabling hands-free ticketing at fast-paced subway gates with throughput of 60 customers per minute or more.
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