Amtrak, the US train operator, has started to train some of its conductors to scan tickets with an iPhone rather than use the traditional ticket punching method.
The US Corporation oversees passenger train services and on some of their routes they have adopted the use of the iPhone to scan barcodes printed on train tickets.
The company started training its conductors last November and hope to have all 17000 conductors using the scanning device by late summer.
The smart system works because barcode technology is so easy to use. If a passenger buys a ticket a barcode is automatically generated on the ticket. And passengers don’t even have to print the ticket themselves; the ticket’s barcode can be displayed in an electronic form on their own mobile device which can be scanned by the conductor.
The chief of sales distribution at Amtrak, Matt Hardison said:
”You don’t even need to print the document and bring it with you,”
”We’ve made a number of important improvements for both our customers and Amtrak, all in one fell swoop.”
Some of the more notable routes on which iPhone barcode scanners are being used include California to Sacramento and Boston to Portland.