‘State of the art’: MBTA changing how commuters pay for subway, bus rides this summer

MBTA officials expect a new fare collection system to launch this summer allowing subway and bus riders to pay by tapping a contactless credit card or mobile wallet on a smartphone, like Apple Pay, instead of the traditional CharlieCards and paper tickets.

The start of contactless payment -- a feature in place in other major transit systems, including New York City’s subway -- would mark a milestone in a delayed project to modernize fare collection at the T.

“It is going to be state of the art. It’s something that our customers want and they’ll be able to feel,” MBTA Acting Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Cook told a subcommittee Thursday. “It will be something that will be able to be expanded on.”

A timeline presented Thursday calls for the tap-through option to become available in the summer on subway fare gates, buses, and above-ground Green Line trolleys. A new CharlieCard plus a mobile app and upgraded fare vending machines are set to launch in spring 2025, and the contactless payment will then expand to commuter rail trains and ferries in spring 2026.

MBTA officials will seek approval Thursday for a change order with Cubic and John Laing, that expedites the project contractor’s launch of the credit- and phone-payment feature while delaying the deadline for the entire project to be completed from August 2025 to June 2027.

The change would also trim $41 million off the total price of the contract, from $967 million to $926 million, Cook said. The updated contract will go before the full MBTA Board of Directors later Thursday morning for approval.

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