metro cards nyc end

[lennygoran]

I have no trouble swiping the current metro card like hillary ànd while I`m nearly as old as bernie at least I know they don`t use tokens anymore! BTW my smart card in wshington dc works very nicely! Len


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/nyreg ... v=top-news

[John F]

That worries me. I don't have a smartphone or plan to get one, and while I do have a bank card, I really don't want a direct link between the MTA and my bank account, a link that could be hacked and clean me out. Also, will they continue to give us seniors a 50% discount in the fare? This story from the Daily News mentions a third alternative, an MTA-issued smart card like London Transport's Oyster Card, in effect an upgraded Metrocard. Also that it's unlikely to happen so soon.

MTA warned phasing out MetroCards by 2018 may be too optimistic
BY Dan Rivoli
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

MetroCards are going to disappear — but not so fast. The MTA wants riders to start tapping their way into subway stations and buses in the summer of 2018, though an engineer told the agency on Monday to expect the project to be delayed.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has sped up its schedule for the new fare payment system — smartphones, bank cards and agency-issued “smart cards” — that will replace the MetroCard, which will be phased out beginning in June 2018.

While MTA officials vowed to move faster on initiatives that will bring the transit system into the 21st century, an independent engineer, Chris Adams, warned that the target date for bringing contactless payment to subway stations and buses “may not be met.” To meet that goal, Adams said the MTA would need to award the contract by December, put a system in place to process the payments, and get fully tested hardware and software operational within 18 months.

Before the new payment method begins to be installed around the transit system, it will get an early test drive at Grand Central, Penn Station and Atlantic Ave. for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North passengers beginning in June 2017. Commuters transferring to a subway or bus at these large transit hubs will be able to use their smartphones to tap into the system before most transit riders.

Board member Andrew Albert urged MTA staff to ensure there’s a steady flow of passengers going through turnstiles at these busy stations when smartphone payments begin next summer. “You don’t want people fumbling and giant lines forming behind them,” Albert said. “You might have to line the phone up exactly, whereas with a contactless card, you don’t.” Meanwhile, up to 150 riders on the Metro-North’s Hudson line and the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington branch this month will test out an app to pay for a ticket.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta ... -1.2606395

[jbuck919]

That worries me. I don't have a smartphone or plan to get one, and while I do have a bank card, I really don't want a direct link between the MTA and my bank account, a link that could be hacked and clean me out. Also, will they continue to give us seniors a 50% discount in the fare? This story from the Daily News mentions a third alternative, an MTA-issued smart card like London Transport's Oyster Card, in effect an upgraded Metrocard. Also that it's unlikely to happen so soon.

Do you have the option, as I do with EZ-Pass, of linking it to a credit card instead? I'm not suggesting of course that you run up your credit card account--I don't do that either. However, if someone hacks your credit account you can rectify the fraud much more easily than if someone cleans out your checking account.

[BWV 1080]

and how much revenue do they stand to lose in money loaded on unspent metro cards? I have probably half a dozen with a few bucks each on them

[jbuck919]

and how much revenue do they stand to lose in money loaded on unspent metro cards? I have probably half a dozen with a few bucks each on them

Good point, and if you exercise the option I mentioned you must make an authomatic deposit however small into the EZ-Pass account as opposed to absolute pay-as-you-go. I imagine that cumulatively New York gets some use out of that as a float, though I will happily leave the $5.00 remaining in my account to my next of kin in my will.

[John F]

Do you have the option, as I do with EZ-Pass, of linking it to a credit card instead? I'm not suggesting of course that you run up your credit card account--I don't do that either. However, if someone hacks your credit account you can rectify the fraud much more easily than if someone cleans out your checking account.

The MTA's "automatic refill" option works that way. But I'm very selective about when I use a credit or debit card, especially these days when hackers steal millions of credit cards' data from supposedly secure organizations. So I always refill my Metrocard as needed, using cash, which takes less than a minute. That's what I want to be able to do under the new system, and the option should remain available - after all, many people don't have credit cards, or max theirs out. Will it be? We'll have to wait and see.

how much revenue do they stand to lose in money loaded on unspent metro cards? I have probably half a dozen with a few bucks each on them

The MTA has already lost some of that with its policy, begun last year, of charging a $1.00 "new card fee" when you buy a new Metrocard instead of refilling an old one. They also sell non-reusable single-ride cards, for which the new card fee is 25¢. Whether or not they are now coming out ahead, they haven't said.

Also, some riders on buses stick more than one Metrocard in the slot until they get the "fare paid" beep. I believe the system is adding up and canceling the balance on each card until the total is $2.75, but I don't know that.