I have been wanting to write about Disability Fare Suica/PASMO ever since the service started in March 2023. When I lived in Osaka my deaf friends always used the staffed gate as they had to show the half-fare ticket (child’s fare) with their Osaka city issue disability ID. Disability fare is available for all forms of transit but adding Transit IC support has been slow. Traditionally this has been showing a paper ticket with disability ID to an attendant at the gate but users have long wanted a Suica option.
Disability fare Suica and PASMO were announced in 2022 and launched in 2023. Disability Suica • PASMO mirror paper ticket disability fare conventions: 1) only type 1 disability can use disability fare Suica, 2) disability fare Suica users must travel with a caregiver/assistant which means the complete disability fare Suica package has two parts: a disability Suica and a caregiver Suica and they must travel together for automatic disability fare discount. The disability Suica can only be used by the registered user, caregiver/assistant Suica can be used anybody who is the acting assistant. This applies to all travel within 100 km. The rules are different for longer distances. Suica disability user can travel by themselves if the distance is over 100 km. In this case the disability fare cannot be automatically processed by the gate and must be done at a manned gate. Oh, and of course this is plastic only because of the extra disability ID checks involved for Suica • PASMO issue. JR East station posters cover the basics.
If you think these operating rules seem old, they are and people complain about them. They date back to Japanese National Railways rules enacted in February 1950 following passage of the Physical Disability Welfare Act of 1949. JR Group companies and private rail companies use the same rules set by JNR because the Japanese government hasn’t gotten around to creating a new welfare act that updates regulations and government reimbursement rules.
The biggest complaint is the must travel with caregiver/assistant for disability fare eligibility for distances less than 100 km. JR Group companies and private rail companies don’t want to change anything until the Japanese government addresses the situation with new legislation. The focus has been on upgrading station access and infrastructure to be ‘barrier-free’, but JR East is doing what it can within the current framework to allow disability Suica users to use online mobile ticketing like everybody else by removing some of the disability ID check friction with My Number card.
Disability fare Eki-Net and My Number
Eki-Net launched disability fare Shinkansen eTickets and Ticketless reservation service in February 2024. User registration requires linking a My Number Card with the user disability ID information attached. Digital disability IDs have been around for a few years but have remained a visual inspection affair. Linking the information to My Number card allows users to register ID info with online services like Eki-Net via NFC tag reading. Once registered, users can reserve and purchase JR East Shinkansen eTickets that combine basic fare (over 100 km) + super limited express + seat reservation in one discount ticket package linked to the Suica card, and go through the gates like everybody else.
Transit YouTuber kenzy201 uploaded a handy overview video of the new Eki-Net/Wester eTicket options. While these JR Group developments are all welcome, it’s important not to overlook local region disability fare discounts that have been available with Suica 2 in 1 region affiliate cards. Disability Totra use on Utsunomiya LRT for example offers automatic half fare for both Type 1 and Type 2 disabilities.
There’s a long way to go but the main point is this: with the arrival of disability use Suica and PASMO and online ticketing, the age old practice of showing IDs and paper tickets at gates is finally becoming a thing of the past.
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