The NYC Transit System Wants To Move To Smart Cards

[Me.]

And take the money directly from our bank accounts. Or so says the local news. Has anyone heard anything about this. I do know one thing, I don't want the MTA within a 100 miles of my bank account.

[DesertFlower]

1. i'm a former new yorker.

i agree with you.

[Me.]

12. Well Then You'll Get This

They keep crying poor so they have to raise fares yet it seems they have the 227 mil it will take to institute this system.

[DesertFlower]

17. i moved almost 21 years ago.

how much is the subway now? i used to take the express bus and it was $3.50 each way.

[MiniMe]

2. The DC transit system has smart cards

They are not linked to your bank account here, you have to keep the card replenished. I think that giving the transit system access to your bank account is a bit excessive. I have no problem with the way it works in DC.

[Raineyb]

4. We have metro cards that act the same way. You replenish them as needed.

Of course, as per usual the MTA has put expiration dates on them so if you don't use mass transit as often they can basically steal your money. I wouldn't let these rat bastards near my bank account on a dare. THey can't be trusted with the money they get with access to your account I can only imagine the horror stories of people checking their balances and finding the MTA took money 3 or 4 times yet claiming that your card was low.

Thanks but no thanks MTA. Take off the expiration dates from the metro cards and stay the hell away from anything that necessitates you having access to our bank accounts.

[CreekDog]

3. I have a Smart Card for SF Bay Area's BART system --most useful thing

It is attached to my credit card.

It's so much more convenient. I also use it to pay for parking at suburban stations.

To me it's no different than EZ Pass for tolls (or Fast Track in California).

And attaching it to my credit card means I have all the protections that credit cards get --it's safer than carrying a high value ticket or monthly pass around.

[Me.]

5. Credit Cards Are A Different Matter

What about people who don't have them and....tourists?

[CreekDog]

7. Smart Cards aren't required --but I think they should be encouraged

But Smart Cards and passes could make loading and stops faster.

[enlightenment]

9. In London they use the Oyster card -

you can link it to a credit card for automatic 'top ups' - but you don't have to do that. It's replenishable at a variety of locations, including Tube stops.

Bank accounts? No way would I do that, but a credit card is slightly more reasonable (and better than discovering you're short in the middle of a trip).

[Retrograde]

18. I want a universal Oyster Card

In my ideal world there would be one card that you use on any transit system in the world, so you don't have to keep figuring out what the fare is, do you have the right change, and so on. My only gripe with the Oyster card is that they won't let me top it off on-line with a US-issued credit card. But as you point out, there are tons of places in London to do so.

[enlightenment]

20. I agree - it would be easier to top up that way.

But, hey - the ability to use the card on the Tube, on the bus, on the DLR, on the ferry (yay!) and - more and more - on the trains around town . . .

That is a slice of heaven.

A universal Oyster card would be beyond perfect!

[jp11]

6. Is there a fee to have that thing and a monthly charge?

[Me.]

10. That's An Excellent Question

[CreekDog]

11. There isn't in the Bay Area

except for I think a one time $5 fee when you first order it.

also, I get the high value discount each time my card is recharged, which saves me 6%.

if I paid fare by fare, I wouldn't get that. if I paid cash, I'd need to fork over enough to buy a high value ticket.

[jp11]

16. I ask because ezpass in NJ had/has a monthly fee and an 'account' fee after the $10 deposit.

They too offered discounted tolls with the tag, w/o it you paid something more, not sure if they did away with that discount or not.

[TheMightyFavog]

8. Sounds like London's Oyster Card.

They aren't directly linked to your account, but you can arrange to have your card automatically "topped up" from your account.

[JHB]

13. The PATH system (NYC-NJ) has used SmartCards for over a year...

...and my card does not take money from my bank account.

I use a vending machine to add value to the card, same as for a MetroCard. In fact, they're the same vending machines: the ones at the PATH stations serve both types of cards. You can arrange for an automatic payment for a monthly unlimited, but I don't make use of it. (Like you and plenty of others, I prefer a buffer between my money and the entities I make payments to. The more places you use automatic payments for convenience, the more likely you are to get a nasty surprise when something screws up.)

I understand your concerns, but like the Good Book says: Don't Panic

[Me.]

14. Thanks

I just heard on the news that they will be like debit cards so we'll see what the actual facts are. Though I do resent them putting in a new system when they keep making cuts and they can spare me the 'it will save money in the long run' cause it never happens.

[Raineyb]

15. Then what's the need for the smart cards? The metro cards do that already

without having to be attached to your bank account.

All they need to do is remove the expiration from the metrocard. Touting an attachment to your bank account is not the way to sell these things. Metrocards can have money added to them via bank card or credit card as well as cash and all of this can be done at the current vending machines which are found in every train station.

[JHB]

19. I don't know about "need", but my guess is...

SmartCards are hard plastic cards like a credit or debit card, but instead of a magnetic strip the whole card is magnetized. It's read by touching it to a plate instead of running it through a reader slot.

So the cards themselves seem to be more durable (much fewer replacement cards) and less susceptible to reader error (no wear and tear on the strip). That's my experience so far. I used to get 40-trip QuickCards (a flimsy magnetic-strip card like the MetroCard, but it ran through the reader differently), and near the end I was usually wondering if I wasn't losing a few trips thanks to reader problems. And I use MetroCards too, and occasionally have reader problems with those, too.

Also, there's no need for new vending machines: the ones already in use are Smartcard-capable. It's just that the PATH actually uses that function right now, and the MTA doesn't. Yet.

I don't mean to sound like an advocate. Frankly, I'd prefer good, old, reliable tokens. But unless the MTA plans on using a substantially different payment system than what the PATH has in place, the situation wasn't quite as forbidding as the OP had in mind.

[JHB]

21. Ahh, Now I know what you were referring to...

My explanation above was a little off -- confusing the PATH's present "SmartCard"(tm) system with "smart" credit/debit cards -- but the "don't panic" still applies.

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With the wave of his MasterCard PayPass Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy moved seamlessly through the turnstile at the Exchange Place PATH Station yesterday afternoon. Healy was among the first people to try out the new "Tap & Go" system, a pilot program being used by NJ Transit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Metropolitan Transportation Authority that will allow riders to pay by credit card on certain buses, PATH trains and subways.
****
Eleven of PATH’s 13 stations, including all of Jersey City’s are outfitted with Tap & Go systems, as well as six buses on NJ Transit three routes that connect to those stations, the 6, 80 and 87. The Christopher Street and 9th Street PATH stations in New York are not part of the pilot, due to technology issues, Baroni said.

In addition, the Lexington Avenue subway lines — the 4, 5 and 6 — and eight MTA bus routes — the M14, M23, M79, M86, M101, M102, M103 and BXM7 — are also equipped with the technology.

Amy Linden, senior director of New Fare Payment Systems at the MTA, said the agency is trying to phase out MetroCards, which use outdated magnetic strip technology that is being phased out and will become costly to repair.

The use of credit cards also allow users to avoid needing multiple payment options on different transportation lines.

---

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/06/jersey_city_path_stations_acce.html

The new system will let any account (credit or debit) using a card with a built-in PayPass microchip to be charged directly, using that in the place of a MetroCard or PATH SmartCard. (The technology appears to be similar to what's being used already in the SmartCards, but where the SC is presently PATH-only, a PayPass card is a "one card for everything" setup.)

Personally, I don't intend to use it anytime soon, and if I ever do it'll be with an account I have set up specifically for use with a PayPass to limit exposure in case of theft or billing screw-up.

[Me.]

22. Thanks For This

And seriously, Mastercard? What a sweetheart deal. What do you want to bet we'll be talking fees. And I still wonder about those who don't have MC.