Tokyo is what I would consider modern and is miles ahead of most of the big cities I have lived in or visited. Just having public transport that respects their customers (unlike the TTC in Toronto) is already a big improvement.
TTC is killed by the unions.
The Toronto Subway has changed collectors - 7 of whom, in 2016 earned more than $100K.
I'm not making a political statement - just indicating that public transit in Toronto can't move without the unions - and unless you want to pay through the teeth - and keep jobs around where they don't need to be ... no future.
In Frankfurt, most stations have no staff, it's mostly the 'honour system'.
There are some 'token machines' in Toronto but it's archaic in 2017 to be paying people to 'make change'.
I'm fine with 'employing them' but surely there is something more productive they could do.
If it takes Google scanning my Google ID and filling out a CAPTCHA to get on the subway to achieve this then so be it, the current system embarrasses me when I have foreign friends visit.
Some systems are so backwards they will never be fixed, they will be disrupted. But don't discount the power of unions.
You could have, in Google Village Toronto - literally the coolest and most advanced transit system in the world - and the TTC Change Collectors could still be there.
It takes a mayor or Premier who is basically willing to burn a ton of political capital to take them on - and it never happens.
Current Premier Wynne is bribing the unions for votes.
It's a problem with populism - and one of the ugly/secret reasons that public transit is not expanded in more places: bureaucracy, complexity, unions, cabals, systems-in-place.
I don't like Google, but yes, let's hope they can disrupt public transit.