You will soon be able to pay for transit cards in cities such as San Francisco through Google Pay. Cubic Transportation Systems on Monday announced that they’ve teamed up with Google to offer contactless transit payments.
Travelers can add their transit cards to Google Pay and get rid of the physical card entirely. They can reload funds and purchase tickets directly from their Google Pay compatible mobile device. Cubic hopes this system will reduce costs and increase efficiencies and ridership for transit agencies. The company hasn’t shared any timeline as to when to expect this new system, though.
Known for their Clipper cards in San Francisco, Cubic has its fare reading and payment systems placed in cities like New York, Vancouver, Sydney, San Diego, Los Angeles, and London as well.
Google Pay now supports Cubic’s Clipper cards
Cubic has not specified whether the new contactless payment system will be available in all cities or will remain limited to certain cities or cards initially. However, Ambarish Kenghe, director of product management for Google Pay, specifically mentioned that Clipper cards in the San Francisco Bay Area are among the first to be supported.
“Working with Cubic will help us simplify the commute for Google Pay users in several major transit systems – including support for Clipper cards in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Kenghe said.
Cubic is also responsible for New York’s One Metro New York (OMNY) contactless fare payment system, and similar systems in several other cities. Google Pay is likely to add support for many of these systems soon. “Ultimately, our goal is to make riding public transit seamless and convenient for as many people as we can,” Kenghe added.
Travelers can already purchase transport tickets using Google Pay in London. However, current systems have some restrictions in place including daily and weekly caps on spending. Also, you can purchase tickets on a pay-per-ride basis only. The new system should eliminate those restrictions and allow the purchase of season tickets as well.
New York, meanwhile, is still in the process of rolling out the OMNY system. This system also allows you to purchase tickets on a pay-per-ride basis only. Transit cards will be available once every subway station, bus route, and the railway is outfitted with this new technology. The city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will also offer time-based passes, reduced fares, student fares, and more.
“We want to do everything we can to make sure our riders have the best options available and the MTA welcomes this kind of innovative ticketing solution,” said Al Putre, executive director of the OMNY Fare Payment Program.