Apple Pay Comes to New York City's MTA Transit This Friday

[dona83]

Vancouver’s TransLink has had Apple Pay support on their trains, buses, and seabus for a couple of years now.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

\
I went to London and made a point to use only public transportation. I live in socal and have tried to use transit here. The difference was astounding. From simplicity of paying fares, to conditions on the systems, and the the class of people using it, was stark.

Exactly. I was VERY impressed with how efficient and usable "the tube" was in London when we were there.

Public transportation in SoCal is laughable. And you're right...if you're riding the trolley or buses, people think you're poor.

 

[Crowbot]

Maybe a New Yorker can answer this: in order to use this feature, do I Need to set up an account with MTA first and back it up with a debit/credit card or do I just use any card I have stored with Apple Pay?

Yes. You would set up an account to charge up and then draw down. Many people already do this with their MetroCards, which use a magnetic stripe.

 

[iRutherford]

Except a lot of people who use these stations don't even pay and then get so arrogant when caught and confronted.

 

[gnasher729]

That's only three years after London...

 

[alphacen]

Considering how long it takes me to use apple pay at the store, I think the metrocard swipe is faster.

 

[tmiw]

The article says you need a 6S or newer... the 6 and 6+ also had NFC/Apple Pay, though. Are they not sufficient for it? Is there something extra special that is needed that was added to the 6S?

Might be referring to Express Transit support rather than using Apple Pay per se.

Perfect! You can get onto the worst transportation system in the world in a frictionless fashion!

At least NYC has a usable transit system?

Looks like the first real effort, outside of “a few trial runs” is nearly 20 years behind London. This is a sad staton how the USA views public transit (and possibly even applications of technology in the public interest) compared to Europe and in this case the UK.

Other transit systems in the US have had their own RFID/NFC type cards for a bit though.

 

[stygs]

Yes. You would set up an account to charge up and then draw down. Many people already do this with their MetroCards, which use a magnetic stripe.

I don’t believe this is correct. You simply tap your phone on the reader, like any other Apple Pay terminal and it charges you the fare.

That’s the impression I have based on the article and how it works on most other public transportation that uses Apple Pay that I’ve encountered.

EDIT: It does seem you have to link to some Express Transit system.... Which is an added layer of complication that our UK friends do... But after that there’s no topping up or anything.

 

[kingpushup]

San Francisco still waits ..

 

[Huntb3636]

This article is confusing.

OMNY supports Express Transit, meaning you don't need to authenticate to pay if you choose to use it. This way, you can just tap your phone/watch and be on your way without dealing with TouchID/FaceID. Only the iPhone 6S/SE and later support Express Transit. (Except maybe for the Chinese model of the 6?)

Any iPhone with Apple Pay can use OMNY, but only the ones that support Express Transit can use that feature.

 

[ilikewhey]

faceid + applepay + nyc rush hour, what can go wrong

 

[sinsin07]

Yes. You would set up an account to charge up and then draw down. Many people already do this with their MetroCards, which use a magnetic stripe.

I don’t believe this is correct. You simply tap your phone on the reader, like any other Apple Pay terminal and it charges you the fare.

That’s the impression I have based on the article and how it works on most other public transportation that uses Apple Pay that I’ve encountered.

What You Need To Know About Apple Pay's NYC Subway Debut
"Transit payment via Apple Pay works with iPhone SE, and iPhone 6S or newer smartphones, as well as Apple Watch Series 1 and 2 or later. You will need to update to the latest software (iOS 12.3 on iPhone and watchOS 5.2.1 on Apple Watch) to enable Express Transit.

After updating, open Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Express Transit Card and select the credit card or debit card to use for transit."

 

[bluespark]

Do people find waving their phones around in a public place like this safe?

I've wondered how many people will accidentally lose their grip on it and send it flying...

It works with the Watch, too, and you see tons of those in NYC.

 

[Crowbot]

I don’t believe this is correct. You simply tap your phone on the reader, like any other Apple Pay terminal and it charges you the fare.

That’s the impression I have based on the article and how it works on most other public transportation that uses Apple Pay that I’ve encountered.

Yes, I should have mentioned that. You would either link it to a credit/debit card account or use a Metrocard account.

 

[bluespark]

That's only three years after London...

Years after Chicago as well. Does anyone do this right, though? The existing systems that I'm aware of charge your default payment option, i.e., the payment option you set up in Apple Pay. If you want to change that, you have to select a different card. That works pretty well at stores, but is only a half-solution for transit, since you ideally would want to *always* use your transit card for transit (to take advantage of benefits) and never use that card anywhere else. The ideal solution would be for the phone to auto-sense this. If you are using ApplePay for transit, it takes from your transit account. If you are using ApplePay anywhere else, it takes from your default payment source. That's a capability I think most strap-hangers would want to see.

 

[Crowbot]

Except a lot of people who use these stations don't even pay and then get so arrogant when caught and confronted.

Oh really? How often do you ride the NYC Subway?

 

[nicho]

That’s the impression I have based on the article and how it works on most other public transportation that uses Apple Pay that I’ve encountered.

The massive picture showing it in action using a Bank of America credit card also supports your impression.

 

[sinsin07]

Laughs in London and the entire state of NSW.

Vancouver’s TransLink has had Apple Pay support on their trains, buses, and seabus for a couple of years now.

That's only three years after London...

Years after Chicago as well.

Here ya'll, have a cookie

 

[aka777]

Congratulations, NewYork City!

Welcome to London in 2003!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card

hilarious. especially since they still use those magnetic strip cards.

 

[hektor6tygr]

Not clear what your're getting at.
If you enter the 4,5 or 6 line north of Grand Central or south east of Barclays, it reads to me that there will be no tap-to-pay readers.
For example the 4, 5 and 6 lines have terminals ending in the Bronx (and Brooklyn).
So for example if you enter the transit system in the Bronx (or south east of Barclays in Brooklyn) sounds like you still need a Metrocard.
[doublepost=1559130259][/doublepost]
I read this as:

2003: Osyter Card similar to Metro card:
A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smartcard that can hold single tickets, period tickets and travel permits, which must be added to the card before travel. Passengers touch it on an electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct funds. Cards may be "topped-up" by recurring payment authority, by online purchase, at credit card terminals or by cash, the last two methods at stations or ticket offices
2014: Ostyer card simlar to Apple Pay?:
Since 2014, the use of Oyster cards has been supplemented by contactless credit and debit cards as part of TfL's "Future Ticketing Programme".

Perhaps you could explain further your 2003 reference.

On another note, Japan has had transit card support on the phone since forever! It finally arrived in the iPhone when the 7 launched though
[doublepost=1559136356][/doublepost]

Do people find waving their phones around in a public place like this safe?

I've wondered how many people will accidentally lose their grip on it and send it flying...

Never seem someone's phone fly out of their hand when they're passing the terminals here where I live.

 

[aka777]

Looks like the first real effort, outside of “a few trial runs” is nearly 20 years behind London. This is a sad staton how the USA views public transit (and possibly even applications of technology in the public interest) compared to Europe and in this case the UK.

Public transport is embarrassing in Murica. The NY subway system and its airports for that matter, resemble something out of a failed third world economy.

 

[ajguckian]

Pretty cool, glad they are trying to do things to help the system.

 

[mi7chy]

Does it have integration with Apple Maps like with how Google Pay is doing it?

https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/23/g...rrival-times-ahead-of-mta-google-pay-support/

 

[Jim Ryan]

Do people find waving their phones around in a public place like this safe?

I've wondered how many people will accidentally lose their grip on it and send it flying...

I just came back from Japan, where NFC payment is commonplace-- the vast majority of people used their phones or smart watches to pay for transit, using the Suica mobile payment system (that also worked on most vending machines, convenience stores and even at Disney).
[doublepost=1559139670][/doublepost]

I don’t believe this is correct. You simply tap your phone on the reader, like any other Apple Pay terminal and it charges you the fare.

That’s the impression I have based on the article and how it works on most other public transportation that uses Apple Pay that I’ve encountered.

EDIT: It does seem you have to link to some Express Transit system.... Which is an added layer of complication that our UK friends do... But after that there’s no topping up or anything.

In Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo you associate a transit card account (Octopus in HK, Suica in Tokyo) with Apple Pay and then set it as your express transit account. In the NYC trial, you're associating a credit or debit card with the account so you are not able to get the transit discounts at this time. I would expect that the end goal is to move OMNY to a contactless payment card similar to Octopus, Suica or PATH Smartlink.
[doublepost=1559139752][/doublepost]

faceid + applepay + nyc rush hour, what can go wrong

Express Transit doesn't use FaceID-- it's always on.

 

[ericyun]

I wonder what's going to happen to the 5% bonus you get when toping up your metro card. it would obviously be a shame to lose this.

Unfortunately they got rid of the 5% bonus across the board during the last fare hike . Now we have no more bonus and unlimited passes are $127 a month.