As any New Yorker knows, the proper way to swipe a MetroCard to get into the subway system—the timing, the speed, the downward pressure—is tricky, but possible to master.
As any New Yorker knows, the proper way to swipe a MetroCard to get into the subway system—the timing, the speed, the downward pressure—is tricky, but possible to master. The successful MetroCard swipe separates the tourist from the hardened commuter, the New Yorkers of taxicabs and Ubers from the New Yorkers who descend underground daily.
But in the next half-decade or so, those distinctions will vanish, along with the now-26-year-old MetroCard pass. On Friday, New Yorkers get a peek at the future: paying for a transit ride not with a swipe, but just by holding a smartphone or smartwatch near a turnstile.
Starting at noon, contactless fare readers from Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new OMNY system will go into operation at 16 subway stations and on Staten Island buses. To use one, riders with contactless credit or debit cards, or smartphones or smartwatches equipped with mobile wallets, can tap or wave them in the direction of a reader, which will glow blue when they’re ready to use. (You can tell if your credit card is contactless if it has a sort of sideways WiFi symbol on it).
Read more at Wired
Photo credit: SoFuego via Pixabay
