This is the list for JR East Suica 2 in 1 region affiliate transit cards. I’ll continually update this page as new cards are announced.
2 in 1 Region Affiliate List
As of 2025-09-12, 14 cards serving 23 regional affiliate transit companies have been launched (best viewed in landscape mode):
| Region | Type | Launch | Card | Affiliate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utsunomiya | Bus•LTR | 2021-03-21 | totra | Kanto Transportation JR Bus Kanto Utsunomiya Light Rail |
| Iwate | Bus | 2021-03-27 | Iwate Green Pass | Iwate Kotsu Co. Ltd. |
| Iwate | Bus | 2022-02-19 | iGUCA | Northern Iwate Transportation |
| Hachinohe | Bus | 2022-02-26 | HACHICA | Northern Iwate Transportation Hachinohe City Bus |
| Aomori | Bus | 2022-03-05 | AOPASS | Aomori City Bus |
| Gunma | Bus | 2022-03-12 | nolbé | Joshin-Dentetsu Gunma Chuo Bus Nippon Chuo Bus Gunma Bus Yajima Taxi Nagai Bus |
| Akita | Bus | 2022-03-12 | Shuhoku Orange Pass | Shuhoku Bus |
| Akita | Bus | 2022-03-26 | AkiCA | Akita Chuo Kotsu Co. Ltd. |
| Yamagata | Bus | 2022-05-14 | cherica | Yamako-Bus Co. Ltd Shonai Kotsu Co. Ltd |
| Aomori | Bus | 2022-04-29 | Towada SkyBlue Pass | Towada Kankō Dentetsu |
| Nagano | Bus | 2025-03-01 | KURURU* | Nagano City Transit |
| Kesennuma | BRT | 2023-07-01 | odeca* | JR East |
| Hirosaki | Bus | 2023-02-25 | MegoICa | Konan Bus |
| Fukushima | Bus | 2024-05-18 | LOCOCA | Shin Joban Kotsu JR Bus Kanto |
| Matsumoto | Bus | Early 2026 | TBA | Matsumoto City, Regional Buses |
The important card features are:
- 2 in 1 Commuter Passes: JR East Suica commuter plan + region affiliate operator commuter plan, 2 different commute passes on one card
- 2 in 1 Points: JRE POINT + region affiliate transit points
- Region affiliate exclusive services: special discount fares/subsidies/points for disabled users and elderly, as well as disability fare Suica 2 in 1 cards
…all in one 2 in 1 Suica card, an integral part of the JR East MaaS strategy. The total package includes:
- Local branded MaaS: Suica 2 in 1 region affiliate cards have their own branding, region commuter passes and reward transit points that are managed by the affiliate transportation company or local government operator. In addition to earning regular JRE POINT, local transit points are automatically added/used for transit in the region affiliate area. There will be special services and discounts for local area residents linked to Ny Number Card in the future as part of the JR East local region MaaS program.
- Suica benefits: Though they have different branding, local region 2 in 1 cards are Suica cards with all the Suica infrastructure benefits including Shinkansen eTickets, nationwide Transit IC compatibility, eMoney, JRE POINT, etc. This means they automatically plug into the wider transit and payments network for seamless transit locally and nationally. The extended Suica coverage means that Suica and Transit IC card users can travel in these newly added areas.
- Contactless: eliminating paper tickets in regions without Transit IC cards, VISA Touch is marketing the hell out of it too. More on that subject here.
- Local and national government transit support subsidies for rural areas will be used to help launch cards and promote local transit services. Yamagata prefecture for example will provide the equivalent of 5.2 million USD for a region card that will cover all public transit for the prefecture. Yamagata Suica infrastructure subsidy details explained here.
Suica 2 in 1 is central technology of JR East MaaS strategy, it offers the benefits of Suica infrastructure to link local transit agencies within the JR East area who don’t have the resources to launch or maintain their own transit IC card system. Plugging orphaned regions into the wider transit network and leveraging the established infrastructure is the sensible thing to do. I wish JR East had done it years ago. We will see more announcements in the coming months and Japanese press coverage as the bulk of the new card services launch in February~May 2022. JR West ICOCA has a similar goal but different approach for expanding ICOCA service to regional partners.
All 2 in 1 Region Card announcements to date have been for new cards. The long term challenge for JR East will be incorporating existing and important region transit cards inside the JR East MaaS transit region such Niigata Kotsu Ryuto and Sendai City Transportation Bureau icsca, moves that would help reduce costs and extend benefits for everybody.
Related Posts
• Super Suica Reference
• Suica 2 in 1 Mobile Dilemma
• Super Suica Cloud
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