Okinawa postpones Taiwan EasyCard use until 2020

沖繩將台灣悠遊卡的使用推遲至2020年

Introduction had been expected this month


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - The Japanese island of Okinawa is postponing the introduction of the use of Taiwanese EasyCards on its Yui Rail system until 2020, Taipei’s EasyCard Corporation said Tuesday.

The first use of the card overseas had been planned for this month, but a plan by the Japanese government to reorganize the country’s transportation card systems had delayed the introduction, the Liberty Times reported.

EasyCard Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told the Taipei City Council that the plan had been largely agreed with, until Okinawa City informed the company last June 1 that the Japanese government wanted to integrate the current ten different cards being used on various public transit systems in the country.

The reorganization was linked to the preparations for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and meant that the use of the EasyCard was unlikely to occur before that year, the Liberty Times quoted Lin as saying. Okinawa had originally not been included in the plan by the Japanese government, but that changed earlier this year.