New York City's MTA To Debut Smartphone Based Payments By 2018

The MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) of New York issued a public bid on Wednesday, asking for proposals for a new contactless ticketing system to replace the MetroCard, potentially allow iPhone users to pay for public transit on their smartphone. Starting in June, the MTA will begin accepting proposals for the "New Fare Payment System" that will replace the MetroCard for both subway and bus operations. The authority's new system will rely on both smart cards and mobile devices, like the iPhone. The MTA hopes to have the new payment system roll out by mid-2018, first debuting on the Select Bus Service, according to ABC 7. Apple's latest mobile devices, the iPhone 6, 6s and iPhone SE, feature NFC support for Apple Pay at retail. The company is also a member of the NFC Forum, which is working to bring contactless payments to U.S. public transit, potentially signaling that Apple Pay could be opened up to support the likes of the new system the MTA plans to implement. While Apple has not yet opened up NFC in the iPhone and Apple Watch to third-party developers, the company is said to have quietly shown interest in enabling features like transit payments and secure building access. Could New Yorkers so be able to use Apple Pay to ride transit ? Only time will tell. What do you think of using Apple Pay to ride transit ?