Something I don't see mentioned in this article is the nation-wide adoption of a universal transit-payment system: IC Card (Suica is only one of several companies, but often used colloquially to mean train card). This makes it so easy to board any bus/ferry/train without worrying about setting up 30 different accounts each with its own card system.
I've lived in Japan for 4 years now and it was a bit of a culture shock travelling to Germany where I had to have a different pass/app for the various buses and trains. The U.S.'s public transit buildout is slow but happening, and I worry it's falling into the same trap. I'd like to see a federal bill requiring all private/public transit to use the same universal payment scheme accepted in Japan in order to get federal funding for their projects.
Although I'm seeing more and more public transit around the world (including Japan) adopting tap-to-pay so you can use your regular debit/credit cards.
Funnily enough, one of the companies that don't yet have tap-to-pay is... JR.
Each JR company also have their own website, and their own "network pass", making it quite cumbersome to book online tickets (e.g. needing to book each segment separately if they're on different companies' routes).
The Swiss system also has different companies, but everything can be booked on the SBB website/app.
I find Swiss system to be very convenient. My recent visit to the country was smooth thanks to the SBB app. It works not just for rail but also for bus, trams, and ferry. I think even some cable cars are covered. Plus there it can provide discounts or free visits to selected museums.
Been wanting to write about this. The graph of interoperability agreements that makes this possible is crazy.
My first visit to Japan, there were still places that would only accept a subset of IC cards and not all.
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