New York governor Andrew Cuomo has announced the MTA eTix app for iPhone now supports Apple Pay, enabling commuters to conveniently and securely purchase tickets for New York City's Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad trains.
As of this week, commuters can use Apple Pay to purchase one way, round trip, ten trip, weekly, and CityTickets tickets — as well as monthly passes — through the MTA eTix app, which can be used at all LIRR and Metro-North stations.
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"The New York commute just got that much easier thanks to Apple Pay in the MTA eTix app," said Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey. "Now you can skip the line entirely to buy train tickets right on your iPhone."
MTA's Long Island Railroad, operating between Manhattan and the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island, is the busiest commuter train in North America, with an average weekday ridership of over 300,000 passengers.
MTA's Metro-North Railroad, operating between Manhattan and upstate New York, plus parts of southwestern Connecticut, is the second busiest commuter train in North America, with an average weekday ridership of over 285,000 passengers.
MTA eTix, free on the App Store [Direct Link], eliminates the need to stand in line to purchase tickets from a vending machine. Instead, your iPhone serves as your electronic ticket, which you activate before boarding a train.
Top Rated Comments
The ticket, once activated, is only valid for 2 hours. So don't "Activate" it until you actually are on board or until the conductor gets to you. For security and anti-fraud purposes there's a QR Code and other marquee-like moving images on the screen as a way to validate the ticket.
They don't scan your phone though, they just look at it and keep walking.
It just sucks because I can't put my WageWorks Commuter Card into Wallet because WageWorks doesn't support it yet.