New York City-area commuters will be able to tap a variety of contactless credit and debit cards or other devices to pay directly at train gates and onboard buses as part of a much-anticipated extension of a trial of open-loop fare collection.
The new six-month trial, which begins today, will enable riders to directly pay fares on buses and at gates to commuter trains in and around New York City and neighboring sections of New Jersey, in addition to gates of a subway line in the city. It also expands the fare collection to cards or applications on devices from multiple financial institutions and at least one more payment brand. The original trial, launched in mid-2006 on one line of the New York City subway, involved only MasterCard Worldwide and Citigroup.
UPDATED: Contactless payment from the additional card network, Visa Inc. and it's payWave application, will not be accepted in the trial until after July 31. MasterCard, which is co-organizing the project, will enjoy a two-month exclusivity period, during which only cards or devices carrying its PayPass application will be accepted for fares. The trial is scheduled to run through Nov. 30. The PayPass cards or applications for the new trial could be issued by a number of banks, not just Citi.
