But when mass transit phases out paper tickets, "use the convenient app for a 20% discount!", it's not much better...
Even with paper tickets, if you paid with a credit card there's now a perfect record: Jim Smith got on at the Fruitvale station and got off in Fremont, stayed there two hours, and then came back the same way.
the old trick at the air port was to buy mulitple tickets leaving around the same time to different destinations at multiple airports ultimately traveling under false ID under a different name. that's surely feasible for pretty much anybody not just super spies, right?
Even with paper tickets, if you paid with a credit card there's now a perfect record: Jim Smith got on at the Fruitvale station and got off in Fremont, stayed there two hours, and then came back the same way.