Apple Pay Coming to Transit Systems in Philadelphia, San Diego, Boston, and More Cities Between 2020-2023

Transit agencies in major cities like London, New York, and Washington, D.C. have recently rolled out support for or expanded availability of Apple Pay for contactless fare payment using an iPhone or Apple Watch.

apple pay transit reader
Given this trend, MacRumors reached out to transit agencies in additional cities across North America to inquire about their Apple Pay plans:

  • Philadelphia: SEPTA plans to start supporting Apple Pay and mobile ticketing next year. The rollout may begin as early as the second quarter of 2020, but the timeline is not firm yet.
  • Boston: MBTA says Apple Pay with Express Transit mode will be piloted in 2022 and rolled out widely in 2023. This will include CharlieCard fare card integration in the Wallet app.
  • San Diego: SDMTS plans to begin implementing a new fare payment system in late 2020 with support for mobile wallets like Apple Pay. No plans for Compass Card integration in the Wallet app at this time.
  • Toronto: Metrolinx says it is working toward initiating a limited pilot program to test out new forms of payment in 2020. In April 2018, Metrolinx reportedly said riders would be able to pay their fare by tapping their smartphone against a PRESTO reader in "far less than five years."
  • Montréal: STM plans to support Apple Pay around 2022-2023 for credit cards, but not the OPUS fare card.

We'll update this list if any other transit agencies respond.

Apple Pay with Express Transit mode allows for tap-and-go payment, eliminating the need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. The device does not need to be waked or unlocked, either.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Top Rated Comments

moiety Avatar
49 months ago
As far as Boston goes, the MBTA just cancelled their automatic fare collection 2.0 system, and the entire contract will have to be renegotiated or ditched. So if we even have a pilot of any sort by 2022, I’ll eat my hat.

As much as I’d love this and want it yesterday, we have far more pressing priorities; such as the old trains falling apart, the new trains falling apart, stations on fire, the third rail igniting if a trash rat even looks at it, elevators out of service, anything with wheels derailing with regularity, anything without wheels also derailing with regularity, a carrier-pigeon based signaling system from the 1890s, and a state government that’d rather rebuild seven stretches of highway before even deigning to tangentially acknowledge our public transportation crisis.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J InTech82 Avatar
49 months ago
When I email Clipper (San Francisco Bay Area transit card used for all busses/trains) when Apple Pay/Apple Wallet will be coming I got this reply:

We are Clipper card and you can purchase Clipper card at many different retailers, if you can use Apple Wallet at one of those retailers you can purchase Clipper cards and add value onto the Clipper card there. In order to see the different locations where you can purchase a Clipper card you can go to our website at www.clippercard.com ('http://www.clippercard.com/') and look up retailers. I hope this information is helpful for you to be able to use your Apple Wallet for your transit needs. Also, we do not deal with ticket sales of the individual transit systems that would be a question for whatever transit you are interested in.
They clearly have absolutely no clue about technology, which is very frustrating being in one of the biggest tech hubs in the world.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G5isAlive Avatar
49 months ago
This is already in place in Japan with suica cards where I recently traveled and it made things so much easier. Tap and go. Even if the phone is asleep. Kept everything in one place so easy to review my travels.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CPark98 Avatar
49 months ago
Knowing Septa, this ain't happening for another 10 years.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
49 months ago
Just support local transport cards instead of this, I can pay my fare with Apple pay if I want to now.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iProd Avatar
49 months ago
Realistically, the MBTA will start working on this project come 2033.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...