The MTA Is Testing Smartphone Tickets: Report

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is piloting a smartphone-based payment system that could someday replace the Metro Card.

The pilot program, which is currently only open to MTA employees, has smartphone users scan a barcode on their phones before entering the turnstile instead of swiping a card, amNew York was first to report. The MTA has installed these new readers at two stations in Lower Manhattan, at Bowling Green and Wall Street. Right now, the pilot program remains small in scale: MTA employees who are transferring from a commuter train to the subway can use the scanner via the MTA's eTix app.

The agency said that the scanners would be rolled out to more stations by the end of the year. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The smartphone-based scanning system is one of a number of initiatives the public transit agency will weigh to replace the Metro Card. Last year, the agency began soliciting ideas for an updated version of the Metro Card.

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