#contactless-payments

#contactless-payments

New Yorkers can obtain a free OMNY card starting Tuesday as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) gears up to replace the 30-year-old MetroCard system. The first 400 riders at each of the 16 customer service centers across the five boroughs who transfer their MetroCard balances to an OMNY card will receive the card without the usual fee, which ranges from $1 to $5.

The project represents a comprehensive overhaul of the existing Breeze infrastructure, introducing contactless ticketing, reloadable smartcards, and a new mobile app designed to simplify the user experience. According to INIT, the upgrade will equip the network with over 1,800 onboard and station validators, 275 next-generation ticket vending machines compliant with ADA standards, and more than 500 new faregates, nearly half of which are designed for barrier-free access.

I vividly remember the first time I used my phone to ride the New York City subway. I tapped my device against the translucent rectangle thing, the light turned green, and the turnstile made a familiar click inviting me to push through the metal arms. On the other side, the future beckoned. After a two-decade run as New York's preeminent pass to the subway, the MetroCard has officially joined the brass token in the annals of subway history.

You can get through most of London now without touching a coin. The bar, the bus, the cinema, even a takeaway from a late-night chicken shop, tap and go. Most people don't ask if cash is accepted anymore. They assume it isn't. Most of the time, they're right.