Tomáš Podrabsky A few days ago, we published an article about the ever-increasing expansion contactless NFC technology within the applications, American NBA or MLB. The New York Times has now come up with another great piece of news for this technology and Apple Pay at the same time. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Monday approved an investment of 573 million dollars in the introduction of contactless turnstiles in the city's public transport.
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500 turnstiles in the metro and 600 buses will receive NFC readers in the second half of 2018, and all the rest by the end of 2020. "It's the next step to move into the 21st century and we have to take it" said Joseph Lhota, chairman of the MTA. According to him, 5,8 to 6 million people will pass the subway in New York every day, and the new contactless payment option will initially be popular mainly with younger generations. For others, there will of course still be a MetroCard service, at least until 2023. Of course, the new NFC turnstiles will not only support Apple Pay, but also similar services from competing brands, i.e. Android Pay and Samsung Pay, as well as contactless cards containing an NFC chip.
Currently, the MetroCard system works on the principle of preloading cards. Officials hope the move to contactless payments will speed up travel overall. New York's transportation system suffers from frequent problems with delayed connections, and the way to get on faster should have been the first step to combat these problems. Of course, NFC terminals will offer greater convenience for passengers who will no longer be forced to deal with frequent problems with MetroCard reading.
What do you think about this simple technology? Would you welcome an expansion in our region not only for contactless payments, but for example also for tickets of all kinds or as a source of information about practically anything? From food and menus to tourist maps or timetables.
Q1 2018 in the Czech Republic
Well just to :)