Apple Pay comes to Singapore transit, New York City piloting in spring
Apple Pay is now available to public transit riders in Singapore, and will begin a pilot program with New York City's MTA later this spring.
Via Pratik Patel on Twitter
In Singapore, Apple Pay works on any transit method supporting Mastercard. Visa compatibility should come in the second half of 2019, TransitLink said.
The New York City pilot will initially be limited to a couple of lines, expanding throughout the rest of the year, according to TechCrunch. Some subway riders are already seeing "coming soon" messages for wireless payments at subway turnstiles.
In Chicago and Portland, where Apple Pay is already accepted for transit, people will soon be able to add preloaded Ventra and Hop cards to the iOS Wallet app. The change was reported by the Chicago Tribune and Willamette Week -- a blog, Ata Distance, further suggested that both cards will support Express Transit, optionally bypassing the need to use Touch ID, Face ID, or a passcode. The Chicago and Portand additions were first spotted by MacRumors.
That technology has so far been limited to transit networks in China and Japan. A similar Express feature is available for iOS student cards at universities like Duke and Johns Hopkins.
Via Pratik Patel on Twitter
In Singapore, Apple Pay works on any transit method supporting Mastercard. Visa compatibility should come in the second half of 2019, TransitLink said.
The New York City pilot will initially be limited to a couple of lines, expanding throughout the rest of the year, according to TechCrunch. Some subway riders are already seeing "coming soon" messages for wireless payments at subway turnstiles.
In Chicago and Portland, where Apple Pay is already accepted for transit, people will soon be able to add preloaded Ventra and Hop cards to the iOS Wallet app. The change was reported by the Chicago Tribune and Willamette Week -- a blog, Ata Distance, further suggested that both cards will support Express Transit, optionally bypassing the need to use Touch ID, Face ID, or a passcode. The Chicago and Portand additions were first spotted by MacRumors.
That technology has so far been limited to transit networks in China and Japan. A similar Express feature is available for iOS student cards at universities like Duke and Johns Hopkins.
Comments
So it's a massive undertaking and very costly. I have noticed some stations with a few newer turnstiles so they are starting to move to a new fare collection system, but it will take years to fully implement. The current plan is to start to get it operational sometime this year, but they're not going to phase out the MetroCard until 2023. The initial reported cost is $573 million! Phase one will replace just 500 subway turnstiles and 600 bus collection boxes, so that's a drop more than one turnstile per station. Seems to me the cost/benefit ratio is lousy. The MetroCard is imperfect in that many people have problems swiping it, but just as many will have issues using ApplePay or an NFC card.
The other issue is that if you buy a MetroCard today, if you put $5.50 or more on the card, you get a 5% bonus. If you use a credit card or I presume Apple Pay at the turnstile, you don't get the discount, but maybe this is part of a plan to get rid of that discount. And from my experience using Apple Pay, it's going to be slower than swiping a MetroCard. That could prove disastrous in NYC where on the subway alone, in 2017, there were 5.6 million rides per weekday and over 2.8 million average each weekend day.
And it's not just going to support ApplePay. It's going to support Samsung Pay, Android Pay and credit/debit cards with NFC chips. There are a lot of New Yorkers without bank accounts or without credit cards. I think they're still going to have to have a MetroCard, but it will be NFC rather than a mag stripe. The question is what are they going to do for single fares.
https://www.techradar.com/news/apples-iphone-xs-has-a-game-changing-nfc-feature-even-when-turned-off
The terminals are networked. They read the NFC on your phone for a unique ID, look up on their database, and see "gutengel's got a valid 30 day pass, or he has 12 pre-paid fares left on his account, or whatever" and let you through.
If you have multiple NFC devices (phone, watch, another phone or iPad or whatever) it's all moot because they have the same account ID. You don't need FaceID to to activate it, although I imagine there will be a flag to require it if you're paranoid.
It is hugely convenient. Boston has had contactless transit for over ten years thanks to a chipped card you can put in your wallet. Tap your wallet on the terminal, walk through without talking. Believe me, you get used to it fast, carrying a physical card immediately feels very Flintstones.
every new technology has been criticized as being too expensive for some, or too complicated for others. But nevertheless they take over. Costs come down, complexity is simplified. That’s the way of the world nowadays.
i have problems with the Metrocard. Sometimes they don’t get read properly, and you’re standing there swiping away. It says to just swipe at that terminal, but you can’t, so you go to another one. Sometimes you lose the first fare because of that. If you don’t pay attention, the card, which is dated, for most card uses, runs out, and even with money on it, doesn’t work. So you have to get out of the line, when it’s busy, and go to a machine, which may have people on line, and which itself may not be working, or is only accepting cash, or some other nonsense. Then you have to go to the booth, at some point, with your bad, it outdated card, and see if they can convert it to a new card. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Many stations have no one in the booth.
sometimes, though it’s been rare in recent years, some wise guy puts something into the slot so you can’t swipe.
so anyone who tells you that this is going to be a bigger pain is full of it. I expect glitches in the beginning. This always happens. But after some time, it will settle in.
https://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/09/17/new-iphones-can-conduct-certain-nfc-transactions-even-when-ios-is-not-running
https://www.3idcards.com/XceedID-13-56-MHz-MIFARE-ISO-Card-p/9558.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4LiQ3ou34QIVlojICh3N6Q2pEAQYASABEgKJm_D_BwE
Do you live in NYC? Have you been living under a rock? The MTA announced the MetroCard was being replaced with a new contactless system, which is what is making Apple Pay support possible in the first place, almost 3 years ago. The new cards/system will work on the LIRR and Metro-North as well.
https://new.mta.info/system_modernization/omny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMNY