J3J Episode 0XT: Abusing Your Teikiken


Note: This is another one of those episodes that is only
likely to be of use to current or future residents of Tokyo.
Read on if you wish...  and pull up a map of Tokyo's transport
system, a large paper foldout if possible, but Eidan's WWW site
(www.trta.co.jp???) will do in a pinch.


Unlike most cities, Tokyo's commuter pass (定期券, teikiken)
system does not allow the use of all lines within a certain
area, but only direct commuting from point A to point B,
possibly through point C, and these too only on specified lines.
For example, the endpoints of my pass are Todaimae, on the
Eidan Namboku subway line, and Komaba-Todaimae, on the
Keio Inokashira private railway line.  The pass also specifies that
I may change trains at Shibuya and Akasaka-mitsuke/Nagatacho.
Doesn't seem to leave much room for abuse, now does it?  Not so.


The first method is to use only a part of the pass.  You may enter and
exit at any point of your journey, so I can go to, say, Shibuya, Iidabashi
or Omote-sando for free, since they are all between my end-points.  This
feature may not be much advertised, but it is certainly legal, since
you've purchased the right to travel back and forth along that stretch.


The second method, the extended trip discount, is equally legal, if not
terribly useful.  In Japan, you don't need to purchase the full fare
immediately, it is entirely permissible to buy a partial fare when you get
on and adjust it to the correct amount when you wish to exit -- most stations
even have automated machines for doing this.  Let's say I wish to go from
Shibuya to Asakusa, at the other end of the Ginza line, way beyond my
"allowed" sector.  The full fare would be 230 yen, but if I stick my
pass into the adjustment machine, I will only be charged for the
trip from Akasaka-mitsuke at 190 yen -- a savings of 40 yen.  Why,
that's almost enough for a discounted pack of tofu!  But the same
method can be abused for much greater (but unfortunately illegal)
discounts as well.


Let's say I want to go to the very other end of the Odakyu
Od*** line, the little mountain covered in hiking trails known as
Takao-san.  A ticket from Shibuya to Takao-san costs over 1000 yen,
and I have little choice but to pay it.  But for the way back,
I can buy the cheapest ticket available (120 yen), ride all the
way back to Shibuya, and then keep the ticket stub in my pocket and
use the teikiken instead.  And I'm home free -- literally.
Alas, the Keio network is all too limited, but when I lived in
Tawanawadai, I could take the Keikyu/Keisei line all the way to
Yokohama or Narita Airport...  and of course you can also use this
to get the return trip from Asakusa to Shibuya for not 190 yen,
but 160 yen (the cheapest ticket).


So I am limited to the measly local Eidan and Keio networks?
Surprisingly enough, the answer is no.  If you consult your subway
map carefully, you'll notice that many subway lines actually pass through
their termini and continue on as railways -- the Hanzomon line, for
example, metamorphoses into the Tokyu Den-en-toshi line, which can be
used as a gateway to all other Tokyu lines.  Since there are no ticketing
gates or controls of any kind at this point, I can also use the free return
trip method when starting on any point in the Tokyu network.  And there's
more: since I have access to the Eidan network, which interfaces with
practically every other network at some point, I can not only access the
Tokyu network via Hanzomon-sen, but the Odakyu network via Chiyoda-sen,
the Toyo network via Tozai-sen, the Tobu network via Hibiya-sen,
the Seibu network via Ikebukuro-sen and, yes, even the JR network
through the other ends of the Chiyoda (JR Joban) and Tozai (JR Chuo) lines.
There may be more, there may be less.  The Keisei/Keikyu networks do seem
be out of reach, except for Toei commuters who can reach Keisei/Keikyu via
Toei Asakusa-sen, and also Keio through Toei Shinjuku-sen.


Obviously, there are quite a few other people who have also realized
this, including the JR and subway network bean counters.  The
interesting part is that it's quite difficult for them to catch you:
it's perfectly legal to be on any network without a valid ticket,
as you can pay the difference when you get off.  The only way
they can know you are cheating is if you use your teikiken only
at one end of the trip, impossible to detect with mere humans...
but a problem that can be solved by technology!  Basically, every
teikiken has a serial number encoded, and a select few large
stations can track these.  Since the cards are evidently read-only,
I can only presume that these stations are networked to each other and
can trigger alerts if a teikiken is used for exiting when it has not
been used to enter.  Usually the barrier will just refuse to let you pass
and ask you to contact the staff, who will usually just let
you through, but in one ominous case I've heard about the
abuse was just silently registered... until one day a friendly
JR person called the parents of the wild teen involved and
informed them about a pending 100,000 yen bill.  The obvious
way to cover your ass is to falsify all the information on
your teikiken application, which is never checked...


There is, however, a grey cloud to the silver lining.  Since only some
routes can be used as access points, the "free" routes may be considerably
more complex than the direct route.  For example, to get from Yokohama
to Shibuya, you can't just take the Toyoko line from end to end -- you have
to transfer at Jiyugaoka to the Oimachi line and again at Futako-Tamagawaen
to sneak in on the Den-en-toshi/Hanzomon line, adding 10 stations, two
transfers and at least half an hour to your trip.  (Although for this
particular example you'll soon have another option as well, since starting
26.9.2000
Namboku-sen trains will run straight through Meguro to the Tokyu Meguro line,
which goes to Jiyugaoka.)


Traveling on the extensive (and expensive) JR network would certainly
offer the greatest potential for abuse.  It should be theoretically
possible to board the train in Hokkaido with a 130-yen ticket and
come out in Kyushu, after (not) paying the 50,000 yen correction, that is.
Unfortunately, the bullet trains have separate ticketing gates and all
trains with surcharges (ie. the fast ones) are roamed by conductors.
Even for local clunkers you'd have to stay inside the stations' gates for
the entire return trip, and every now and then you'll run into
a station where transiting between lines requires going through the gates.
There are a few of these beasts even in the Eidan network at some locations
where the lines are far from each other, e.g. Iidabashi, Yurakucho/Hibiya
and Awajicho/Ogawamachi/Shin-Ochanomizu, and in these you can't enter/exit on
the wrong side even if your teikiken allows you that station -- each
ticketing area is considered separately.  On the plus side, so that
people don't have to pay their 160 yen twice, these stations also have
special exit gates that allow you to keep your ticket if you're connecting
to another line -- or if you want be evil, go for a spin outside and use
the same ticket for your return journey.


A few specifics:


* To get from JR Joban to Chiyoda (Eidan) without passing a ticket gate,
you have to transfer before Kita-Senju; the map shows JR and Chiyoda
together, but in reality, they're in separate stations.   All trains
on the Mito line metamorphose into expresses when nearing Tokyo, so
get off at Matsudo and hop on a local train.


* Shimokitazawa is an odd little station that allows anybody to transit
between the Odakyu(/Chiyoda) and Keio networks.


* On Chiyoda, Otemachi and Yoyogi-Uehara can spot teikiken abuse.
Most smaller stations, like Nogizaka, will let you through --
and you can just exit and re-enter to magically validate
your rest of your journey.


Obligatory disclaimer: I am not recommending that anybody do this, and
neither am I admitting that I have ever done this.  But I will admit to
some bitterness over the teikiken cartel insisting that university research
students (大学研究生) are not university students (大学生) and thus have to
buy a full-priced commuter pass, which will cost me an extra 60,000 yen or so
during these 10 months...


Cheers,