Connect with us

Apple

Apple Pay lands on New York City’s subways and buses on May 31

You’ll never have to worry about losing your MTA card again.

Nyc mta subway apple pay
Image: Unsplash

As we reported earlier this month, Apple Pay is coming to New York City’s mess of a subway system. That’s right, instead of having to wait in line like a loser, all you have to do is walk up to a supported turnstile and tap your iPhone or Apple Watch, and you’re good to go.

As it turns out, the MTA is putting this into action sooner than we initially thought. The system goes live on Friday, May 31.

Unfortunately, not every subway line is getting the contactless-payment treatment

Sadly, at rollout, only a few lines will support Apple Pay. Here’s what we know:

  • Apple Pay is only being supported on New York City subway’s 4, 5, and 6 lines between Grand Central Station in Manhattan and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
  • Google Pay will also be supported.
  • To use the new supported kiosks, iPhone owners will need to update their phones to iOS 12.3. Apple Watch users need to update their watch to watchOS 5.2.1.
  • From here, users will need to pair a credit or debit card to the new Express Transit NFC feature
  • Single-ride passes or only being offered with this rollout. Daily, weekly, or monthly passes aren’t supported yet.

According to TechCrunch, the MTA says they plan to have Apple Pay available on all subway lines and buses soon.

Other than attempting to fix its broken subway system, this is literally the best thing the MTA could have done. I can’t tell you the countless times I’ve had to wait in line for an MTA card. With this new contactless-payment option, this changes everything.

Do you live in NYC? Are you stoked to hear this? Do you see any downsides to this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Apple