The days of being asked to swipe again and again at the turnstile could soon be ancient history — as the MTA has begun seeking proposals that would move the subway system toward the post-MetroCard era.
The MTA will release paperwork on Wednesday asking companies to submit proposals for ways of paying for rides with contactless media, such as smart cards or mobile devices.
They are hoping that such a new system, similar to payment methods already used in taxi cabs and stores, in which customers only have to swipe their phones, will make MetroCards as obsolete at subway tokens.
“Currently, the MTA is basically in the business of creating its own currency, which is very expensive,” said Riders Alliance executive director John Raskin. “The more it can shift that burden to Mastercard and Visa,the less the MTA has to worry about and the better it will be for riders.”
The agency wants interested companies to submit their vision of how riders will pay the fare by June 23. There was no talk of what accommodations would be made for people with out smart phones or credit cards.
It will take quite a while before the new payment system is ready.
Even though the switchover is supposed to be a part of the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital program, the new method won’t be up and running until at least 2021.