Tokyo Digital Subway: Holistic Communication and Mobility

"Refrain from making calls"

What strikes you when entering the subway in Tokyo, your first and lasting "impression", it is squeaky clean no matter what hour of the day: no graffiti, no trash on the ground, no papers on the seats... Your second "impression": people are polite; they do not jostle one another. They line up to enter the train, just as they line up to take the stairs or escalator (standing on the left to allow others to pass on the right).

DOOH close to the ticket gate

Silent smartphone usage
Then you notice that everyone is using a smartphone, whether while walking in the corridors or sitting in the train. They read, play and listen to music; nobody screams on the phone, loudly declaiming their personal or professional life... and bothering other passengers. You do not even hear a phone ring. There is a small poster in the cars warning against that.

DOOH and paper
There is video in the corridors of the stations as well as in the trains themselves (12 per car). And there are also traditional publications in paper: MetroWalker, quarterly magazine; Tokyo Metro News, monthly; a lot of posters and even vending machines selling "Metro's Books".

Machines and humans
Subway employees are everywhere, always ready to help. There are machines for buying or recharging your card. And there also humans giving directions for lost passengers.

e-money

Vending machine for books

Finally: a major subway card, the SUICA, a pre-paid money card. You put money on this rechargeable card to pay for subway trips (you check-in and out). The fare is automatically calculated when you leave the station (at the ticket gate). You can also use your card to pay at certain convenience stores, vending machines, Starbucks, coin lockers...

The subway plays a fundamental role in mobility and communication in the city. The Tokyo subway illustrates the modern age of the subway: cleanliness, politeness, security and digital. Holistic communication: face to face, paper and digital. A perfect communication cocktail. As often noted, a new media does not kill the former ones.
Obviously, the success of such transportation and of any advertising in it is based on a sort of social contract. This is the most important challenge, a political issue. After all, politeness is the art of living in the city, isn'it?

Video in a car: left screen for commercials and news (Train Information Channel), right scren for travel information