During the pandemic: Shenzhen Metro's real-name boarding carriage scanning measures urgently need further strengthening and implementation

📅 2020-02-24 📂 Zhiming Hot Comments Zhiming Hot Comments 🏷️ #MetroScanning #ReturnToWork #RealName #COVID19 #Shenzhen #Pandemic

To meet the needs of COVID-19 prevention and public safe travel, Shenzhen has implemented real-name boarding on the metro since February 16. According to relevant regulations, passengers holding ordinary Shenzhen Tong cards or multi-ride tickets must scan the "entry code" and "carriage code" for each trip; passengers using real-name ticketing cards such as Tencent Ride Code need to scan the "carriage code" for each trip. After passengers upload their relevant information by scanning the carriage code, the system backend automatically generates precise travel information such as passenger personal details, travel time, and carriage number. [1] If an outbreak occurs among subway passengers, the disease control department can promptly and accurately trace fellow passengers based on this, thereby achieving "early detection, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment."

[2] It is evident that Shenzhen Metro's real-name boarding system is significant for epidemic prevention and control. However, based on the implementation in recent days, the carriage scanning measure of Shenzhen Metro's real-name boarding system is somewhat ineffective. Unlike the mandatory scanning at entry gates, in practice, carriage scanning currently relies mainly on passengers' voluntary compliance. Although a small number of safety inspectors patrol the carriages, it is difficult to effectively supervise the carriage scanning behavior of a large number of passengers. Meanwhile, due to reasons such as poor mobile signals, forgetfulness, or reluctance to bother finding the carriage QR code, a considerable number of subway passengers likely do not scan the carriage code, as they can exit the station smoothly even without doing so.

[3] At this critical moment of epidemic prevention and control, we can call on passengers to voluntarily scan the carriage code. However, relying entirely on each passenger's voluntary scanning is indeed questionable. On one hand, individual passengers have different levels of awareness and discipline, and they may unintentionally forget to scan. On the other hand, although safety inspectors patrol the carriages, considering their numbers, workload, and specific supervision methods, effective passenger supervision is currently unattainable.

[4] Since implementing real-name subway boarding is crucial for epidemic prevention and control, and carriage scanning is a key step in enforcing this measure,[5] it is recommended that the subway group and other relevant authorities actively adopt improvement measures based on issues exposed during implementation. They should further strengthen the enforcement of carriage scanning through aspects such as boarding procedure design, ensuring the measure is effectively implemented. If so, it would be highly beneficial!

[1] Image source from the internet; if infringement occurs, please delete!