Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to retire MetroCards. Instead of swiping into the subway or dipping onto the bus, commuters will be tapping their keychains, smart phones and credit cards by as soon as 2019.
“We’re expecting the credit card industry to adopt NFC and RFID payments,” says NY MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan. “That’s a broader trend taking place outside of the MTA.” You can already tap your credit card to pay a taxi fare. There are re-loadable Oyster transit pass cards in London and mobile ticketing is available in Portland and Boston, and other cities around US. The future is here, sort of.
There are some definite benefits to this technology — funds tracking, no fiddling with bent cards and bad swipes, no more paying the mysterious $1 card replacement fee.
There’s still, of course, the risk of losing your card… What? Like that never happened to you… On a weekly basis… Oh, that’s just me? Well, can I just forward a few more years and get RFID MetroChip implant in my hand?
