From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >The system didn't have the cost and expense of manufacturing and   
   >distributing the fare media. All the passenger had to do was remember   
   >to use the same credit card each time.   
      
   That's how the Oyster system in London works.  When I was there last   
   year, I used my US issued Amex card to tap in and out, and it billed   
   me once a day for whatever I used.   
      
   As to why Metrocards are obsolete, partly it's that tap card readers   
   have a lot fewer moving parts than magstripe readers and so are more   
   reliable and cheaper to maintain.  But mostly it's that contactless   
   cards can handle much more complex fare systems.   
      
   The Clipper card in San Francisco works on 20 different transit   
   systems in the bay area, most of which have passes and discounted   
   credit that can be loaded onto your card in addition to the cash   
   credit.  When you tap the card it automatically uses whatever is   
   cheapest, and also can deal with special cases like a small discount   
   you get when transferring between BART and Muni in downtown San   
   Francisco.  It's not perfect, e.g. it doesn't do daily fare capping on   
   Caltrain (you need to get a paper day pass from a machine for that)   
   but it's way better than the tokens and magstripe cards and paper   
   tickets it replaced.   
      
   The MTA's RFP looks pretty sensible.  They want it to use regular bank   
   cards and NFC smartphones as well as MTA issued cards, they want a   
   central system that manages the fares connected by a private network   
   to all of the fare machines and gates, and as much as possible they   
   want to use stuff available off the shelf in the US.  They want   
   someone who can integrate the parts, not someone with an all-in-one   
   solution which they realize doesn't exist.   
      
   If they don't screw up, which I realize is a big if, it should also be   
   able to handle tickets for all of the MTA's commuter railroards and   
   politics permitting, there's no reason it can't handle PATH and NJ   
   Transit, too.   
      
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