The MTA’s new chief wants straphangers to be able to use the same card to pay the subway fare and get money out of an ATM.
After his first week on the job, MTA boss Jay Walder is eyeing several high-tech ideas that could eventually lead to a new “smart card,” he told The Post in an interview.
“I’d love to see us connect our new card so you can use an ATM machine with it,” Walder said. “There have always been hurdles to doing that, but I think technology right now is getting us around some of those things.”
The new card — expected to become available in 2014 — has been touted as an E-ZPass for straphangers that will eliminate the MetroCard and the swipe needed to get into the system.
Along with a single piece of plastic that can work as a debit card, fare card, and possibly more, Walder said the MTA is considering a cellphone chip that could automatically pay the fare.
Either way, Walder said, a new payment system would determine how much a rider uses the system and would use that information to calculate the cheapest fare — similar to London’s Oyster Card, which Walder implemented when he worked for that city’s transit system.
“At this point, we just trust that it’s going to work,” he said about London straphangers. “People got the feeling that it was working in their favor.”
The card will likely be based on a “tap-and-go” model, instead of a swipe.
“You don’t necessarily have to take the card out of your wallet, so you can tap your wallet,” he said. “Or women sometimes prefer to tap a handbag. Women in London have found that nice to do.”
One complication is deciding how a single-ride card would work with the new technology.
Also, people who don’t have bank accounts may be unable to replenish an account they have with the MTA for fare money.
Walder also spent the first week meeting with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to discuss how to police a series of bus-only lanes he hopes to install.
Currently, bus lanes are clogged with drivers, yellow cabs, and cyclists looking for a way around traffic or making dropoffs and deliveries.
He also said he hopes to improve relations with residents and business owners along the Second Avenue subway construction path.