MTA's Future Is a Key, Not a Swipe

Special boon for the cross section of the population that are subway nerds and Citibank customers: Select Citibank customers in the NYC area will be chosen to try out the PayPass "contactless payment" system for some NYC subways! A few months after announcing that they would conduct a $44 million pilot test, the MTA revealed that the Lexington Avenue line in Manhattan, along with the Jay Street/Borough Hall A/C/F and 23rd Street Ely Avenue E/Vstops, will start seeing the PayPass for a six month trial. Some pitfalls: The keychain fobs won't let buses read transfers from subways and there will be no unlimited rides (though every sixth ride is free, on the $2 per ride fare system). What about Transitcheks?

Many people are excited about the change, because it'll hopefully stop Metrotardation. But you can expect some tourists to still use Metrocards - unless they have a PayPass. The PayPass system takes money out of debit or credit accounts, and has been used in various forms by many banks across the country, making its way to NYC more recently; Gothamist expects the MTA to open up this system to more banks and carriers and allow for Transitcheks and the like.

Would you be excited to try your PayPass on the MTA? And it took the MTA nine years to phase out the token - though we can't see the Metrocard being as collectable.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 31, 2006 9:30 AM

Comments [rss]

herenthere

Actually,MTA is most likely going to expand the smartcard tech to buses as well. After all, it wouldnt be sensible to not do that. Many other metros in the world use smartcard on both buses and trains, incl:Tokyo,Hong Kong,London,WashingtonD.C. However, as Jen Chung said before, the MTA takes forever to accomplish anything.

MH

I agree with Kevin on the sinster plan:

FOLKS we alread get $2 after the fifth ride when we purchase $10 on a card. The free $2 is nothing new.

This is a sufisticated EASY PASS system. The card key does not allow buses to read the transfer. Don't you think this is a "one step further" of Mayor Guliani's success. "Get The Money Now Plan."

The thirty day unlimited has you spending the same amount every month in advance. Now with this key card, we pay in advance and get no transferrs. They want to consistantly take money from the bank. Sounds like a bank skeem. This means they are still getting their money and we are paying more often when we need the transfer. The key card gets used faster and you purchase it sooner and more often.

I agree corporations should pay for their own test.

Stop Metrotardation. Get rid of these ideas and fix the cement smelly tunnels. I feel uneasey about a below sea level transportation system.

Dessert Faux

I don't see why a contactless 30-day pass is going to be such an issue. The Chicago CTA has a similar "unlimited ride" card linked to a credit/debit card and you pay for the card once every 30 days via auto-debit. And subway-bus connections (30c each?) work just fine on the pay-per-use variant as well.

Don't see why Kevin sees this as a sinister plan "to eliminate bus-subway free transfers as well as unlimited rides." This will be a great idea and can complement existing MetroCard lanes. The MTA can have Citibank and other Paypass providers pay for equipment and testing.

Cole

It will be interesting to see how the MTA handles unlimited passes--in DC and Chicago where they have systems similar to this, they are only for pay-per-ride use; unlimited ride passes have to be bought separately (and are very hard to come by, since both cities have lousy subway pass vending machines). So the people who use it the most are discouraged from getting the best deal--but those systems also wouldn't have nearly the number of unlimited passengers that New York does, so I can't see that the MTA could avoid making a 30-day fast pass option.

Blue387

The MTA; We bring you yesterday's technology tomorrow!

SJ

"shaving precious seconds off commuting time."

How I laughed when I read that after having been turned away from the Carrol Street station at 10:30 am this morning with no 'F' or 'G' trains running. The MTA is a disaster, the infrastructure of the whole system needs funding and all the NY subway riders get are employees in cookoo land thinking they deserve 8% raise for each of thee years, and management that want to play with cool doo-hickey things that have radio waves coming out of them. We are so f*&^ed.

pianokid

Asia had this technology AGES ago... altho HK wins with the most retarded name for the technology...Octopus.

Metrotardation

Bring Back tokens already.

They were the only thing that worked consistently.

The MTA can't handle new technology effectively.

Besides 44 Million for a TEST????

Can you say gross mismanagement of funds

This is just another technology clusterfuck soon to be unleashed by the MTA.

iceberg

I've wrote about that here on Half-Bakery.com

Publius

Wake me up when monthly passholders who buy through the TransitChek program are eligible to use the technology, but at least it's good for the MTA to get on the problem this quickly.

Also, Metrocards are highly collectible--especially the ones with different pictures on the backs. I'm especially fond of the baseball ones.

joe

>>Sounds like an MTA scheme to eliminate bus-subway free transfers as well as unlimited rides.

No, it doesn't. It sounds like it's an early preliminary test, which is what it is.

Kevin Walsh

>>Some pitfalls: The keychain fobs won't let buses read transfers from subways and there will be no unlimited rides (though every sixth ride is free, on the $2 per ride fare system).

Sounds like an MTA scheme to eliminate bus-subway free transfers as well as unlimited rides.

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