Is Public Transportation Safe?

[jorisw]

You do need a Sube card, though.

For the subway you can use contactless debit and credit cards (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) if you use the gates with the purple screens, which are usually the leftmost ones.

 

[Ries]

this is true, but the Subway is boring, because when you look out the window you see nothing. the colectivos are constant entertainment, education, fashion tips, language lessons, and much more fun. Sube cards are not THAT hard to find.

 

[Rich One]

The sole risk in colectivos are traffic accidents, sometimes collisions, with other buses or trucks. Recently a bus got hit on the rear by a truck - many injured . Sometimes robberies, inside buses, at gunpoint

 

[Silvie]

These bus lines running in the city of Buenos Aires are now enabled to take credit cards and cell phone payments besides the SUBE cards:
4, 7, 12, 23, 25, 26, 34, 39, 42, 44, 47, 50, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 76, 84, 90, 99, 102, 106, 107, 108, 109, 115, 118, 132 and 151

 

[FrankPintor]

These bus lines running in the city of Buenos Aires are now enabled to take credit cards and cell phone payments besides the SUBE cards:
4, 7, 12, 23, 25, 26, 34, 39, 42, 44, 47, 50, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 76, 84, 90, 99, 102, 106, 107, 108, 109, 115, 118, 132 and 151

I do wonder about the security aspects of waving your NFC-enabled cards and phones around. NFC has a range of between 10cm and 1m, does anyone have any analysis or reports about if it's possible to intercept and hack the communication? For me security outweighs convenience, if my SUBE card is hacked, I can only lose what credit was on it.

 

[carride]

I do wonder about the security aspects of waving your NFC-enabled cards and phones around. NFC has a range of between 10cm and 1m, does anyone have any analysis or reports about if it's possible to intercept and hack the communication? For me security outweighs convenience, if my SUBE card is hacked, I can only lose what credit was on it.

I agree. I like having the separate sube card. There is little concern if it gets stolen or lost. The other options are nice to help tourism so visitors who are here for short visits can use what is quick, but for everyone else taking the time to own a sube card is the best option. It is very easy to reload credit in a station or online.

 

[Rich One]

I do wonder about the security aspects of waving your NFC-enabled cards and phones around. NFC has a range of between 10cm and 1m, does anyone have any analysis or reports about if it's possible to intercept and hack the communication? For me security outweighs convenience, if my SUBE card is hacked, I can only lose what credit was on it.

What is the danger with the Debit card at the Chino while paying at the cashier, if a hacking device is within the 1 m. range..?

 

[FrankPintor]

What is the danger with the Debit card at the Chino while paying at the cashier, if a hacking device is within the 1 m. range..?

I think you’d potentially have more people standing very close to you and even crowding you on the bus than while paying at your chino.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

What is the danger with the Debit card at the Chino while paying at the cashier, if a hacking device is within the 1 m. range..?

Disclaimer: even though I know this stuff I'm going to tell you, I still keep bank cards, passport etc in emf protective pouches.

So.. RFID or NFC chips can be read from between 1cm or less up to 100m or more but since the range is determined by the frequency of the signal and the application determined by the range, you won't find 100m systems such as used by people like Amazon for locating stock in warehouses being used to read bank cards because they operate on vastly different frequencies. Your HF bank card or phone chip is safe from UHF long range signals because the frequencies are incompatible.