Apple Pay Coming to NYC Transit System in Early Summer

[sinsin07]

It works on busses too. It’s actually going to allow them to enable you to board from both bus doors, instead of just the front, to speed up boarding. ...

NYC has had boarding the buses from both doors for years.
1: You have Limited Stop buses that let you board from back door (with caveat)
2: Then you have this:
"The MTA estimates it lost $128 million in potential revenue last year to farebeating on the city buses alone, more than one-third of the new revenue generated by the fare hike approved last month."
March 25 2019 - MTA says one in five bus riders skip out on fares

 

[truthertech]

Editor: Has Apple commented on whether Express Mode is going to be offered for Transit use? They are offering this with the program they are doing with Universities, and on the surface, would seem to be ideal to use for transit systems to make it even easier and faster still.

"Express Mode is turned on by default when you add your ID card.

Hold the top of your iPhone or the display of your Apple Watch within a few centimeters of the middle of the card reader until you feel a vibration. You'll see Done and a checkmark on the display.

Your iPhone or Apple Watch must be turned on, but it doesn't have to be connected to a network. You don't need to validate with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, and you don't need to wake or unlock your device or open an app.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Ahem, #TTC #Metrolynx .... chop chop chop!

I still have a sh**load of tokens to use...

 

[alexandr]

that's quite a fast roll out, given they just started piloting. but i'm all for it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I still have a sh**load of tokens to use...

I'd say use them ASAP before the pull those last remaining turn-styles out of stations, and fully remove cash payments from buses/streetcars and stations.

PS: Are those those "tokens" that are not real but work? I remember those ... costed TTC a few million and deservedly slow.

- Poor Driver handling - the harsh stop/go at lights or while driving or coming to stops is throwing old ladies/men as well as new parents carrying babies to the point were their thrown off their feet.
- lack of sense of time ... overtly driving super slow ... not maintaining schedules per stop (I'm not talking about 5mins variance ... more like 15-20mins variances and these are NOT in heavy construction zones like on Eglington Ave E/W close to where I have an abode).
- I still catch drivers of buses smelling like weed or visibly high.
- Metrolynx should fully take over TTC.
Horribly designed buses (entrance and egress areas are FAR too narrow).
- Drivers allowing to passengers or off-duty staff to chat them up at the front and clearly BLOCKING entrance at front of buses.

 

[bostonsox]

It works on busses too. It’s actually going to allow them to enable you to board from both bus doors, instead of just the front, to speed up boarding. In 2021 you’ll be able to use it on the LIRR and Metro-North. The plan is to also integrate it with PATH, the Roosevelt Island tram, NYC Ferry, and the Westchester and Long Island bus networks.

What's the source for this info? I can't seem to find it anywhere, sp for PATH trains.

 

[deannnnn]

Cook believes the introduction of Apple Pay support for transit systems across the U.S. will bring in even more Apple Pay customers who don't currently use the payments service.

This is accurate. I don't use Apple Pay right now, as I don't find it easier than using my Amex card directly, in fact sometimes it's more difficult. But I will 1000000000000000% use it for the NYC Subway every day. Absolutely. Cannot wait!

 

[mrow]

NYC has had boarding the buses from both doors for years.
1: You have Limited Stop buses that let you board from back door (with caveat)
2: Then you have this:
"The MTA estimates it lost $128 million in potential revenue last year to farebeating on the city buses alone, more than one-third of the new revenue generated by the fare hike approved last month."
March 25 2019 - MTA says one in five bus riders skip out on fares

Not according this:

https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-bus-action-plan-1.18210453

I don’t know why they would be proposing this if you can already do this...

 

[BuffaloTF]

I'd say use them ASAP before the pull those last remaining turn-styles out of stations, and fully remove cash payments from buses/streetcars and stations.

PS: Are those those "tokens" that are not real but work? I remember those ... costed TTC a few million and deservedly slow.

- Poor Driver handling - the harsh stop/go at lights or while driving or coming to stops is throwing old ladies/men as well as new parents carrying babies to the point were their thrown off their feet.
- lack of sense of time ... overtly driving super slow ... not maintaining schedules per stop (I'm not talking about 5mins variance ... more like 15-20mins variances and these are NOT in heavy construction zones like on Eglington Ave E/W close to where I have an abode).
- I still catch drivers of buses smelling like weed or visibly high.
- Metrolynx should fully take over TTC.
Horribly designed buses (entrance and egress areas are FAR too narrow).
- Drivers allowing to passengers or off-duty staff to chat them up at the front and clearly BLOCKING entrance at front of buses.

Nah. They’re real. I always kept a bunch to help out people without exact change. They are small and light enough that I never minded having several in my pocket. I’ll probably keep some as a souvenir.

 

[mrow]

What's the source for this info? I can't seem to find it anywhere, sp for PATH trains.

It’s just a plan right now for everything but the LIRR and Metro-North, it’s not set in stone. Only LIRR and Metro-North are happening for sure.

https://www.amny.com/transit/metrocard-replacement-omny-1.29297988

A totally integrated fare payment system that allows subway and bus riders to use the same payment systems on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North will come in February 2021, as well, Putre said.

...

But there are still plenty of other transit systems in the city and region that are not included. Putre said the MTA has begun discussing further integration with some of those services, like PATH, NYC Ferry, the Roosevelt Island Tram, the NICE bus network on Long Island and Westchester’s Bee-Line bus system.

 

[nutmac]

Curious where you got this quote from? I'd like to follow up with him and share my thoughts, even though I'm not even in the US! People with this much close-minded-ness should not be in charge of anything except their belt!

From Modernization of Clipper card won’t include high-tech features already used in other cities.

Clipper 2.0 app is better than nothing I suppose, which will supposedly function similar to Starbucks app (you can charge it using Apple Pay and add Clipper 2.0 to Apple Wallet).

 

[tmiw]

Modernization of Clipper card won’t include high-tech features already used in other cities
13

From
Modernization of Clipper card won’t include high-tech features already used in other cities.

Clipper 2.0 app is better than nothing I suppose, which will supposedly function similar to Starbucks app (you can charge it using Apple Pay and add Clipper 2.0 to Apple Wallet).

The US currently has the lowest usage of contactless payment in the world, so I can kinda see where they're coming from. However, there are still all the other problems described in the article. And even if you think contactless payment won't be a thing any time soon, I would think it'd be a good idea to at least make it simple to add later if that prediction ends up being wrong.

Anyway, we'll see I guess? In any case, I'm kinda glad SDMTS isn't going with Cubic for their payment modernization (I want to say they're using the same company that did Portland's, but I'm not 100% sure on that).

 

[dontwalkhand]

The US currently has the lowest usage of contactless payment in the world, so I can kinda see where they're coming from. However, there are still all the other problems described in the article. And even if you think contactless payment won't be a thing any time soon, I would think it'd be a good idea to at least make it simple to add later if that prediction ends up being wrong.

Anyway, we'll see I guess? In any case, I'm kinda glad SDMTS isn't going with Cubic for their payment modernization (I want to say they're using the same company that did Portland's, but I'm not 100% sure on that).

I wish they were going with Cubic as it would have made the most sense, considering the Cubic infrastructure is already there. Instead they’re replacing everything with Init.
[doublepost=1556732692][/doublepost]

Modernization of Clipper card won’t include high-tech features already used in other cities
13

From
Modernization of Clipper card won’t include high-tech features already used in other cities.

Clipper 2.0 app is better than nothing I suppose, which will supposedly function similar to Starbucks app (you can charge it using Apple Pay and add Clipper 2.0 to Apple Wallet).

I’m ok with the second method. It still replaces the clipper card with Apple Wallet. And Apple Pay still works, just within an app. And it’s already better than MuniMobile

 

[tmiw]

I wish they were going with Cubic as it would have made the most sense, considering the Cubic infrastructure is already there. Instead they’re replacing everything with Init.

To be fair, CTA uses Cubic and had a lot of problems rolling out Ventra. Meanwhile, INIT has a pretty good track record as judged by Portland's system (and may possibly be less expensive as well).

 

[nutmac]

The US currently has the lowest usage of contactless payment in the world, so I can kinda see where they're coming from. However, there are still all the other problems described in the article. And even if you think contactless payment won't be a thing any time soon, I would think it'd be a good idea to at least make it simple to add later if that prediction ends up being wrong.

Anyway, we'll see I guess? In any case, I'm kinda glad SDMTS isn't going with Cubic for their payment modernization (I want to say they're using the same company that did Portland's, but I'm not 100% sure on that).

Right. The transit agency is spending about $200M for the Clipper 2.0 project, so why not implement more future proof solution?

Bay Area is Silicon Valley. If there's a metropolitan area in the US that would adopt technology, this is it. The transit agency is being very obtuse to embrace a proprietary technology (using a vendor with questionable ethical standards) without modernizing outdated fare system.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Right. The transit agency is spending about $200M for the Clipper 2.0 project, so why not implement more future proof solution?

Bay Area is Silicon Valley. If there's a metropolitan area in the US that would adopt technology, this is it. The transit agency is being very obtuse to embrace a proprietary technology (using a vendor with questionable ethical standards) without modernizing outdated fare system.

Judging by other Cubic rollouts, it would be pretty simple to add Open-Loop payments at the flip of a switch, or maybe the addition of a payment module at the back end of things. The card readers etc already would support it, just won't do anything when you try to tap a regular credit card. This would make the cubic system already future proof.

I think the real reason they don't want to implement open-loop payments, is the 1-3% Visa/MasterCard/Amex/Discover fees they'd have to pay every time someone boards a bus.

A virtual Clipper Card inside of Apple Pay gives everyone what they're looking for in a way, MTC won't have to pay those transaction fees, and people still get to pay with their phones. OMNY, Hop & Ventra will also allow virtual "passes" on the phone, but these cities also allow you to just tap a regular credit card as well.

As for switching Vendors, lets see how the San Diego project rolls out. It means new everything, fareboxes on the bus (Which Muni DID just replace, so hoping they can get more life out of those), card readers at the train station platforms, CAD/AVL integrations (Muni just spent a lot of money with Xerox for these as well, which is designed to also interface with the Cubic system), in the case of Muni/BART, new fare gates, which would make it much more expensive and wasteful than just going with the same vendor.

 

[tmiw]

Right. The transit agency is spending about $200M for the Clipper 2.0 project, so why not implement more future proof solution?

Bay Area is Silicon Valley. If there's a metropolitan area in the US that would adopt technology, this is it. The transit agency is being very obtuse to embrace a proprietary technology (using a vendor with questionable ethical standards) without modernizing outdated fare system.

Oh, I totally agree. My point was more that I can see how they could have come to the conclusion that they did, not that such a conclusion was necessarily a good one.

I think the real reason they don't want to implement open-loop payments, is the 1-3% Visa/MasterCard/Amex/Discover fees they'd have to pay every time someone boards a bus.

They'd still have to pay that for card reloads. If that were the issue, I'd expect restrictions on those (like surcharges or possibly restricting to debit cards only).

 

[nutmac]

I think the real reason they don't want to implement open-loop payments, is the 1-3% Visa/MasterCard/Amex/Discover fees they'd have to pay every time someone boards a bus.

If I use credit card to add money to Clipper, wouldn't Clipper incur 1-3% transaction fee?

Just my guess, but the only tangible benefits to Clipper that I can think of are (1) not having to deal with minimum per transaction fee (assuming they weren't able negotiate to waive the fee with credit card companies) and (2) hoarding money.

 

[dontwalkhand]

If I use credit card to add money to Clipper, wouldn't Clipper incur 1-3% transaction fee?

Just my guess, but the only tangible benefits to Clipper that I can think of are (1) not having to deal with minimum per transaction fee (assuming they weren't able negotiate to waive the fee with credit card companies) and (2) hoarding money.

People reload $10-20 at a time. Not $2.75 each time they board.

 

[mrow]

People reload $10-20 at a time. Not $2.75 each time they board.

What difference does that make? 10x translations of $2.75 or 1x of $27.50 is still the same total dollar amount in fees. Unless they are also paying an fixed per transaction fee in addition to the percentage. In which case they need to switch payment processors because there are multiple options out there now that charge a flat percentage with no additional fixed per transaction fee.

 

[I7guy]

I can’t wait for Apple Pay and OMNY.

There is one big annoyance though. You swipe your Metrocard for each turnstile on the right since most people are right handed. So the NFC reader is going on the right of each turnstile as well. However most people who are right handed wear their watch on their left wrist. That means if you want to pay with an Apple Watch instead of your phone you’ve got to do some awkward turn sideways and stretch your arm to the other side maneuver to get close enough to the reader.
[doublepost=1556671061][/doublepost]

It works on busses too. It’s actually going to allow them to enable you to board from both bus doors, instead of just the front, to speed up boarding. In 2021 you’ll be able to use it on the LIRR and Metro-North. The plan is to also integrate it with PATH, the Roosevelt Island tram, NYC Ferry, and the Westchester and Long Island bus networks.

Integration at the Path turnstiles would be awesome and eliminate much crowding.

 

[nutmac]

What difference does that make? 10x translations of $2.75 or 1x of $27.50 is still the same total dollar amount in fees. Unless they are also paying an fixed per transaction fee in addition to the percentage. In which case they need to switch payment processors because there are multiple options out there now that charge a flat percentage with no additional fixed per transaction fee.

The difference could be the transaction fee that many credit card companies insist on. "Card not present" transaction fee can be as high as 30 cents, although I would guess a major vendor like Clipper/MTC can negotiate down to much smaller fee.

As an example, a $3.20 Caltrain ride could incur 10-30 cents transaction fee and 1.5-3% interchange fee, or total fee in the range of $0.15-0.40.

Companies like Apple and Google lower cost by batch processing multiple transactions as a single transaction.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Nah. They’re real. I always kept a bunch to help out people without exact change. They are small and light enough that I never minded having several in my pocket. I’ll probably keep some as a souvenir.

Great, paying-it-forward !

You’re a good person!

 

[Bill Av]

Uh, no.

https://new.mta.info/omny

Starting May 31st: will be available on Staten Island buses and 4,5,6 trains between Grand Central and Barclays Center (so not even the entirety of a single train line). System-wide rollout predicted to be completed by late 2020.

It will be pay-as-you-go until every station is outfitted (makes sense).