MTA to begin retiring MetroCards in May 2019

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Transit fares in NYC: MTA to begin retiring MetroCards in May 2019

The MTA will begin a staggered rollout of its new fare payment technology in subways along the Lexington Avenue line, from Grand Central to the Barclays Center, and on buses on Staten Island.

The MTA's new fare payment system will roll out beginning in May 2019 with commuters able to use specific contactless credit or debit cards or mobile wallets from Apple, Google and Samsung. Photo Credit: Jeff Bachner

 

By Vincent Baronevin.barone@amny.com  @vinbaroneUpdated

June 13, 2018 6:10 PM

PRINT SHARE 

The MetroCard’s days are officially numbered.

The MTA will launch its new fare payment system in May 2019 along a stretch of the 4, 5 and 6 trains and across all bus routes on Staten Island, allowing riders to use mobile wallets or bank cards to pay for a ride, according to MTA officials.

It’s the first significant step in the staggered rollout of the new contactless payment system, part of what will be a long phase out of the MetroCard for a next generation, high-tech model.

The MTA's new tap-and-go payment system. Photo Credit: MTA

“We do a lot of talking about a modern system and 21st century system,” said MTA spokesman Jon Weinstein. “This is proof and this is a great example of us taking our system . . . and making it on par with the systems around the world that are considered world-class. We’re a world-class city and we deserve a world-class system and this is one example of that.”

The MTA is currently testing the new fare readers, or “validators,” and plans to begin installing them on railings of Staten Island buses and in front of turnstiles in the selected Lexington Avenue line subway stations as soon as this October.

In May, the tap-and-go system will launch at every turnstile along the line between Grand Central-42nd Street and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center in Brooklyn and on all Staten Island local and express routes. The MTA plans to detail the launch to its board on Monday.

Riders will eventually be able to pay to board subways and buses in a variety of different ways — either by tapping bank cards, a proprietary smart card, or their phones up against a reader. Gone will be the days of waiting in line to load up MetroCards. But the initial launch will have its limits.

In addition to MetroCards, which won’t be completely phased out until 2023, commuters will only be able to use specific, contactless credit or debit cards or mobile wallets from Apple, Google and Samsung to pay for fares during this initial launch.

The MTA won’t unveil its new smart card until February 2021, when it will be available to purchase like any gift card at drugstores and other convenience stores. Vending machines within stations will follow in 2022. And a new app, to which riders can attach their bank accounts and pay fares, is still under development.

“A lot of work is being done on the app,” said Patrick Foye, MTA president, who is spearheading the project. “Our goal is to provide customers with a single, seamless, superior customer experience and we’re making a great deal of progress toward that end. And we’ll be reporting on the app and the customer experience as we go forward.”

Some commuters will be sliding a MetroCard for the last time come next spring. Photo Credit: Bryan Smith

 

Most riders will have to keep their MetroCards handy for the time being; a citywide launch of the new fare system won’t come until 2020. The technology is being developed by Cubic Transportation Systems, which is also the operator of the MetroCard, through a $573 million contract that is currently moving ahead on time and on budget, according to Foye and Bradley Feldmann, Cubic’s CEO.

“Our aim is to improve the user experience and to work our way through all the bureaucracy,” Feldmann said.

Also still unclear is how the MTA board will craft fare policies tied to the technology, which has the potential to improve the service quality and affordability of the transit system.

Policies like systemwide, all-door bus boarding could reduce the time buses spend at stops. And what’s known as “fare capping” could end the debate over whether it makes more financial sense to pay for a monthly MetroCard or a per-ride one by capping payments once riders become eligible for weekly or monthly rates.

The authority has come out in support of all-door bus boarding. But the initial fare tech roll out on Staten Island will only feature new readers at buses’ front doors. Each bus, however, will be wired so that the readers can be easily installed on back doors when the new policy is crafted. Weinstein said the MTA board must lead the decisions on the new policies.

“The MetroCard kind of revolutionized the subway system by allowing riders to transfer; it really changed the way people used the system and it actually opened up the entire city,” said Nick Sifuentes, the executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

“But the benefits of MetroCard didn’t roll out until after it was first released, which was sort of a shortsighted move,” he added, referring to perks such as monthly rates and free transfers.

Both Sifuentes and Jon Orcutt, a spokesman at TransitCenter, stressed that new polices should be crafted and put in place in tandem with the new technology. Fare capping, a London innovation, could be a great win for fare equity, Orcutt said.

“We have the perverse situation now where the people who can afford the most upfront costs get the steepest fare discounts,” Orcutt said. “What we’d like to see is more specificity on when we’ll be able to use rear doors for boarding local buses and whether we’re going to go in some of the initiative directions that places like London have gone . . . I think if you want to sell people on why they have to change, you want to offer new benefits.”

Source: https://www.amny.com/transit/metrocard-fare-payment-1.19188463

[kosciusko]

29 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

commuters will only be able to use specific, contactless credit or debit cards or mobile wallets from Apple, Google and Samsung to pay for fares during this initial launch.

-get on train at franklin avenue 

-get off at 14th street

-have to use a different payment method for each direction

who okayed this

[EDIT] nevermind I misread.

[CenSin]

Are there any details on how station complexes will be handled? And as Hoyt Street is never served by a Lexington Avenue service, I wonder how that will be handled.

If entire station complexes will be covered, the routes that will have this as a result of the Lexington Avenue line getting it will be:

• at Grand Central–42 Street
• at Fulton Street, Borough Hall, Nevins Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• along the central segment of the Lexington Avenue line
• at Grand Central–42 Street
• at Fulton Street
• at Broadway–Lafayette Street and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at Broadway–Lafayette Street
• at Canal Street, Chambers Street, and Fulton Street
• at 14 Street–Union Square
• at 14 Street–Union Square, Canal Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at 14 Street–Union Square, Canal Street, Court Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at 14 Street–Union Square and Canal Street

The , , , (Franklin Avenue Shuttle), and (Rockaway Park Shuttle) will be the only routes totally untouched by the fare payment experiment.

[KK 6 Ave Local]

Because we can definitely handle all the MetroCards coming in from people who want refunds. Yeah but no.

[Around the Horn]

10 minutes ago, CenSin said:

Are there any details on how station complexes will be handled? And as Hoyt Street is never served by a Lexington Avenue service, I wonder how that will be handled.

If entire station complexes will be covered, the routes that will have this as a result of the Lexington Avenue line getting it will be:

• at Grand Central–42 Street
• at Fulton Street, Borough Hall, Nevins Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• along the central segment of the Lexington Avenue line
• at Grand Central–42 Street
• at Fulton Street
• at Broadway–Lafayette Street and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at Broadway–Lafayette Street
• at Canal Street, Chambers Street, and Fulton Street
• at 14 Street–Union Square
• at 14 Street–Union Square, Canal Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at 14 Street–Union Square, Canal Street, Court Street, and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• at 14 Street–Union Square and Canal Street

The , , , (Franklin Avenue Shuttle), and (Rockaway Park Shuttle) will be the only routes totally untouched by the fare payment experiment.

Well how did they handle it with the MetroCard roll out in 1994?

[LTA1992]

33 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Well how did they handle it with the MetroCard roll out in 1994?

Nowhere near this scale. It was only two subway stations (Bowling Green and Whitehall) that started the use of Metrocards.

I can't wait for this. The amount of convenience and possibilities this will provide are exponential.

[JX248]

But then how are transfers between payment systems going to be handled? Like, between a 4/5/6 train to a bus without the new technology, or from a Brooklyn bus to a Staten Island bus? 

[LTA1992]

3 minutes ago, JX248 said:

But then how are transfers between payment systems going to be handled? Like, between a 4/5/6 train to a bus without the new technology, or from a Brooklyn bus to a Staten Island bus? 

Naturally, you'd use a MetroCard. 

 

This first part is geared towards people heading from SI to Lexington Avenue stations

[CenSin]

Just now, LTA1992 said:

Naturally, you'd use a MetroCard. 

 

This first part is geared towards people heading from SI to Lexington Avenue stations

For everyone else… pay twice.

[LTA1992]

42 minutes ago, CenSin said:

For everyone else… pay twice.

For everyone else, use a freaking MetroCard and pay ONCE as per usual.

[JX248]

14 minutes ago, LTA1992 said:

For everyone else, use a freaking MetroCard and pay ONCE as per usual.

I had kind of assumed that when they put the new systems in Lexington Avenue stations, they would simultaneously get rid of the MetroCard turnstiles... If they keep both in the stations then that works. 

[LTA1992]

1 hour ago, JX248 said:

I had kind of assumed that when they put the new systems in Lexington Avenue stations, they would simultaneously get rid of the MetroCard turnstiles... If they keep both in the stations then that works. 

Of course they will. The MetroCard is gonna be around until 2023 after all.

However after that would be  good opportunity for the MTA to replace the current turnstiles with something better at deterring fare evasion.

[7LineFan]

58 minutes ago, JX248 said:

I had kind of assumed that when they put the new systems in Lexington Avenue stations, they would simultaneously get rid of the MetroCard turnstiles... If they keep both in the stations then that works. 

It would be extremely stupid for them to do that. If something goes wrong, then they have no backup. They have to iron out all the kinks and expand the new payment method to the entire system before they even consider getting rid of the MetroCard.

You don't eliminate the use of the old tech until the new tech is sufficiently reliable. Let's use the Flushing line CBTC as an example. If they got rid of the wayside signalling completely when CBTC came online for the first time, we'd be up the creek without a paddle and that's an understatement.

[LTA1992]

37 minutes ago, 7LineFan said:

It would be extremely stupid for them to do that. If something goes wrong, then they have no backup. They have to iron out all the kinks and expand the new payment method to the entire system before they even consider getting rid of the MetroCard.

You don't eliminate the use of the old tech until the new tech is sufficiently reliable. Let's use the Flushing line CBTC as an example. If they got rid of the wayside signalling completely when CBTC came online for the first time, we'd be up the creek without a paddle and that's an understatement.

Being based on the Oyster system, I'm sure the implementation should be smooth. Smoother than Chicago's Ventra was anyway. Keeping the Metrocard for the next few years has nothing to do with needing a backup. It's the obvious thing to do. 

Also, comparing the installation and implementation of a fare payment system to a signal system is like comparing apples to oranges. The implementation schedule has been the same for the last couple of years and I think that deserves some praise. The fact that they are also not trying to re-invent the wheel also deserves praise because the MTA is notorious for doing that. ATS-A and ISIM-B being lovely examples.

Basing our NFPS on a tried and true system is as smart as it gets.

-------------------------------------

Part of me hopes the MTAs own card is Granny Smith Green and called AppleCard.

My alternates are a black and silver GothamCard. Or a blue and gold MetroCard Zwei, EmpireCard, or CityCard designed like the new bus wraps.

 

[paulrivera]

54 minutes ago, LTA1992 said:

Part of me hopes the MTAs own card is Granny Smith Green and called AppleCard.

My alternates are a black and silver GothamCard. Or a blue and gold MetroCard Zwei, EmpireCard, or CityCard designed like the new bus wraps.

How about this idea?

[B35 via Church]

19 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

How about this idea?

 

__________________________________ __________________________________

 

[Around the Horn]

This probably means nothing but the renderings in Cubic's press release showed the current MetroCard branding just without the mag stripe.

[LTA1992]

9 hours ago, paulrivera said:

How about this idea?

なんじゃ？

I'd die if that happened lol

[KK 6 Ave Local]

12 hours ago, paulrivera said:

How about this idea?

what even is that thing...that abomination...

[LGA Link N Train]

13 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

This probably means nothing but the renderings in Cubic's press release showed the current MetroCard branding just without the mag stripe.

Ok, now THIS I can agree with, to replace the metrocards entirely with paying through the phone is something, but redesigning the metrocard to look like those oyster cards I can definitely agree with. And boy would I have fun using those. If they can make that for student Metrocards then that'd be nice.

[LTA1992]

1 hour ago, LGA Link N train said:

Ok, now THIS I can agree with, to replace the metrocards entirely with paying through the phone is something, but redesigning the metrocard to look like those oyster cards I can definitely agree with. And boy would I have fun using those. If they can make that for student Metrocards then that'd be nice.

You DO know a new card (which will likely have a new name) comes with this, right? The initial rollout is for phones, new cards in 2021.

I'm sure they're trying to avoid what happened with Ventra in Chicago.

[N6 Limited]

How about Super MetroCard or MetroCard Deluxe? 

5 hours ago, LTA1992 said:

You DO know a new card (which will likely have a new name) comes with this, right? The initial rollout is for phones, new cards in 2021.

I'm sure they're trying to avoid what happened with Ventra in Chicago.

What happened with the Ventra Card?

[7LineFan]

22 hours ago, LTA1992 said:

Being based on the Oyster system, I'm sure the implementation should be smooth. Smoother than Chicago's Ventra was anyway. Keeping the Metrocard for the next few years has nothing to do with needing a backup. It's the obvious thing to do. 

Also, comparing the installation and implementation of a fare payment system to a signal system is like comparing apples to oranges. The implementation schedule has been the same for the last couple of years and I think that deserves some praise. The fact that they are also not trying to re-invent the wheel also deserves praise because the MTA is notorious for doing that. ATS-A and ISIM-B being lovely examples.

Basing our NFPS on a tried and true system is as smart as it gets.

It's the obvious thing to do because you can't get rid of it until the new fare collection method is working perfectly across the entire system, which is what I was trying to argue and why I made that comparison. And it's the MTA we're talking about here. I have no faith in them getting anything done on time and on budget, even if what they're doing is based on something that was done successfully elsewhere.

[Wallyhorse]

One thing I would like to see is set it up where whatever is the NYC card and SEPTA's (Philadelphia) Key card become fully compatible, with money stored on a card valid on both systems.  Given the large number of people who travel between New York and Philly, it would be worth doing.  

[bobtehpanda]

On 6/15/2018 at 4:31 PM, N6 Limited said:

How about Super MetroCard or MetroCard Deluxe? 

The original Metrocard was called Metrocard Gold, so this actually is not the craziest idea.