MBTA rolling out tap-to-pay system this summer

Hopping aboard the MBTA is about to get a lot easier.

A new fare collection system will launch this summer allowing subway and bus riders to pay by tapping a contactless credit card or mobile wallet on a smartphone, like Apple Pay, instead of the traditional CharlieCards and paper tickets.

The start of contactless payment -- a feature in place in other major transit systems, including New York City's subway -- will mark a milestone in a delayed, over-budget project to modernize fare collection at the T.

MBTA board members on Thursday unanimously approved a change to the agency's contract with transportation technology firm Cubic and financier John Laing that will "resequence" the rollout, making the start earlier while pushing back the project's final end date.

Under the change, the new payment option will launch sometime this summer on subways, buses and above-ground Green Line trolleys. Riders will be able to pay their fares not just with a traditional pass, but also with a tap-enabled credit card, a mobile wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and similarly enabled smart watches.

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The system will also support a new reduced-price fare option for low-income riders, a long-sought program also set to launch this summer.

"We're going to be leveraging technology that's already largely in New York for applying reduced-fare credentials to contactless cards," said Elizabeth Winters Ronaldson, the T's acting deputy chief of fare revenue. "Your Visa doesn't know that you're a senior or a member of [theT's] Youth Pass, so we'll be launching a way for customers to attribute their reduced-fare credential, including the income-eligible reduced fare, to their contactless payment."

By spring 2025, the MBTA will launch a new Charlie Card system, a mobile app and upgraded fare vending machines, according to plans. And a year later, by spring 2026, contactless payment will expand onto commuter rail trains with validators installed at stations and ferries, where workers will instead make use of handheld scanners, T officials say.

The Mattapan Line is not scheduled to get the new functionality until several months after the rest of the core rapid-transit system. Winters Ronaldson said a "power availability issue" prevents operation of the fare readers on board those trolleys.

Crews will instead install validators at Mattapan Line stations, which riders could use to tap a credit card or mobile device. Winters Ronaldson said that work will commence in the fall.

Traditional payment methods will still be available once the contactless payment is up and running, officials said.

The campaign to overhaul fare collection at the T has been rocky. The original $723 million contract called for most features to launch in 2020, but the MBTA amended its agreement in a 2020 "reset" that pushed the total cost to $967 million.

MBTA overseers agreed Thursday to delay the complete rollout across all modes from May 2024 to June 2026, and to push the "longstop date" -- by which every contract condition must be met -- from August 2025 to June 2027.

Officials now expect the contract to come in at $926 million, down about $41 million. Cubic and John Laing can earn another $11 million in incentives if the full system is successfully running in the spring of 2026, officials said.

"I am happy and excited to be in front of you today for two reasons. One, I'm not asking you for money, because usually I'm asking you for money," MBTA Acting Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Cook told the board. "I'm excited to actually be in front of you, more importantly, to tell you that we are going to bring a modernized fare collection system forward and it's coming this summer."

Cook said the T will not make any payments until "we feel the system is working" and accept its installation.

MBTA officials have said they expect contactless payments to make buses and Green Line trolleys smoother because riders will be able to use all doors to climb aboard instead of only the front door.

Passengers will also be able to pay near-instantaneously with a credit card or mobile device instead of adding cash value at the fare box on board.