MTA’s tapping into the future
THE METROCARD’S days are numbered.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board took its first step on Monday to retire the MetroCard and bring technology to let people “tap” their way through turnstiles and onto buses, as do riders in London’s transit system.
The MTA board’s finance committee voted unanimously to give a $573 million contract to Cubic Transportation Systems, the company that created the MetroCard and London’s Oyster card system. The full MTA board vote to award the bid will happen Wednesday.
“They’re looking at the most modern technologies available,” MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said Monday. “When I see most people go into Starbucks, I actually pay in cash, but it seems like everybody else does a tap-and-go with their smartphone. That’s going to be the way that you can pay for your fares in the future.”
The plan is to fully retire the MetroCard in 2023, as the new technology rolls out. The MetroCard system has already exceeded its shelf life and is costly to maintain, officials said.
In the first of five phases, transit passengers in 2019 will be able to tap their way using a bank card or smartphone on 500 turnstiles and 600 buses, plus load up their chosen device with money online. The devices will help the MTA create a “proof of payment” pilot on Select Bus Service routes by fitting buses with readers at all doors.
Steve Plochochi, an MTA contracts executive, said there’s no risk of the technology changing drastically, because the contract calls for the “latest and greatest” as the new system rolls out.
In the meantime, the MetroCard will still be around for people who don’t use smartphones or have bank accounts.
In 2020, all subway stations and buses will have the tech, with the MTA issuing its own tap card in 2021. All traces of the MetroCard and its vending machines will be gone in 2023 under the MTA’s time line.
“There’s so many good reasons to do this, I don’t know where to start,” said Andrew Albert, an MTA board member. “You won’t have to pay employees to clean the turnstiles, you wont have to be stuck behind someone who doesn’t know exactly the right way to swipe.”
MTA board member Larry Schwartz said he told agency brass to stick to the scope of the contract and avoid changes that could cause delays.
“The MTA has had enough time to figure out what it is we need and what it is we want. This is not about coming up with new toys,” Schwartz said.