Starting Aug. 1, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or MBTA, will accept contactless payment onboard buses, Green Line trolleys, Mattapan Line trolleys and at all gated subway stations. The new fare collection system was announced earlier this year as a part of the MBTA’s larger Fare Transformation project, which is set to be completed in 2025.
For many daily commuters and students, the introduction of contactless payment, otherwise known as tap-to-pay, will expedite their commute, eliminating the need to purchase and refill a CharlieCard.
“I think that the MBTA adding tap-to-pay is the best addition they could make,” said Zach Touschner, a second-year business administration major. “It’s outdated to have to reload your card and it’s inconvenient when you’re at an aboveground station and then the driver tells you you have to pay but you can’t do it. The caveat [is] that you now have to pay.”
Touschner isn’t alone in his frustration: Many frequent T riders, like Justin Munyaneza, a second-year business administration and communication studies combined major, are frustrated with what appears to be the MBTA’s attempt to force riders to pay the fare, with a one-way subway ticket costing $2.40.
“It’s going to keep moving anyways — me paying does not change the direction it goes in, so I disagree with having to pay for the T, especially if I’m already paying taxes,” Munyaneza said.
In 2021, the MBTA lost between $5 and $6 million in revenue from fare evasion on buses and subways and anywhere between $10 and $20 million on the commuter rail. Even with the introduction of contactless payment, not everyone is confident that tap-to-pay will lead to a decrease in fare evasion. Marck Forbes works for the MBTA as a bus operator and is skeptical about the effectiveness of a tap-to-pay model.
“Personally, I don’t know how it’s going to work,” Forbes said. “I’ve been here for almost nine years and I don’t think much change is going to happen as far as getting people to pay. I could stand here for 30 minutes and watch many people still not pay.”
But the added convenience of a tap-to-pay model might be what the MBTA needs to compel riders to pay the fare.
“I already see people trying to use [tap-to-pay] even though it’s not up yet, so I think that shows that it’s going to be really successful because people already know how to use it,” said Stella Castro, a second-year design major.
Despite being the oldest train system in the United States, the MBTA is one of the last train systems in a major metropolitan city to introduce tap-to-pay, with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York City introducing contactless payment in 2019 and the Chicago Transit Authority introducing it six years prior in 2013.
“Other cities did it many years ago,” Forbes said. “I don’t know why, if we’re the first running subway system throughout the country, we weren’t at least the second system to have tap-to-pay.”
While it might have taken the MBTA a little longer to implement contactless payment, most riders are thrilled to have the option of tap-to-pay starting Aug. 1, despite their mixed feelings on whether or not they should have to pay for the T to begin with.
“I’m very excited for the new payment method because I already use tap-to-pay a lot in other places, but I don’t think it’s going to stop people from jumping on the T without paying,” said Trinity Lu, a third-year biology and political science combined major.