MTA turns on the tap

THE METROCARD is expiring.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday awarded a $573 million contract to Cubic Transportation Systems to design a new way for riders to pay. The swipe will be gone — and in its place, the tap.

The system Cubic creates will allow riders to pay by tapping their smartphones or bank cards, which will be connected to a refillable transit account for fares.

Those options will be the first to hit turnstiles — digital readers will be placed in 500 subway turnstiles and 600 buses by 2019.

The MTA will then create a tap credit card for people without smartphones or bank accounts. Those will be available in vending machines and retail outlets.

By 2023, the MetroCard will be retired.