Oh come on, Walgreens, Duane Reade, many mom and pop shops etc has contactless,....oh and KFC, McD's, Subway (sandwich, not train), etc as well. We aren't that bad, we were bad when we were still using magnetic strip, at least we have chip now., and most new chip readers have NFC. It's the stupid NYC cash only shops, which isn't much of a problem here in Phx thankfully. Don't get me wrong, I love New York, and there pretty much there every other month for work, but this was an annoyance for me too. Next time you're in the US, try San Francisco, Apple Pay and contactless/chip & PIN is everywhere pretty much, and trains and trams as you call them use contactless cards, rather than magnetic strip metrocard. No Apple Pay yet, but I'm sure it's coming, as the same company made London, LA, Chicago and Sydney's contactless fare infrastructure.
With how large the US is, you can't generalize the entire country because of New York.
I wish NYCT would add Apple Pay to the Subway...you know what add Phoenix, LA, SF, etc too. I loved using Apple Pay on trains, trolleys and busses in Chicago, and now you can in Portland, and I heard London, and Sydney lets you Apple Pay the trains there too now! This may be the kick in the pants Apple Pay needs. Much easier to tap a phone than to figure out a city's specific fares etc to travel.
