“Tencent’s WeChat mini-program “Ride Code” has reached 100 million users, Tencent Financial Technology announced Tuesday, exactly two years since its debut in July 2017. Ride Code allows subway and bus riders to pay for transit fares with QR codes directly upon boarding in various Chinese cities. At subway stations, that means showing your barcode at the turnstile. Riders do not need to visit ticket kiosks as the fare is deducted from their WeChat Pay wallet.”

“It can often feel like New York City’s subway is stuck in the Stone Age compared with systems in other cities across the world. Trains built in the 1960s still run on the subway tracks and parts of the signal system date back to before World War II. But perhaps one of the greatest symbols of the outdated system is the MetroCard — the flimsy fare card that was introduced a quarter century ago . Cities like London and Chicago have embraced tap cards and smartphone payments while New Yorkers still stand at turnstiles trying to swipe their MetroCard at the precise slow, but not-too-slow, speed to avoid the dreaded, “Please swipe again.’’ Now New York is finally getting a modern “tap-and-go” fare system that will make other cities jealous.”

“Committed to providing innovative Octopus payment services to meet customers’ diverse payment needs, Octopus Cards Limited is excited to announce that customers will be able to use their Octopus on their iPhone or Apple Watch for transit and retail payment with Apple Pay later this year. More details will be shared soon.”

“Denver’s use of Uber for transit ticketing appears to be gaining traction among commuters. More than 1,200 tickets have been sold through the app since its May 3 launch, Uber Technologies Inc. announced Tuesday. That pegs growth at an average of 42% per week in the launch period, the ride-share provider said. Denver’s Regional Transportation District announced the Uber transit-ticket capability in May in conjunction with transit fare-payment provider Masabi Ltd. and Uber. Consumers can use the Uber app to purchase RTD transit tickets . As with Uber car rides, users pay for transit with cards they have on file with Uber.”

“Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB ) today announced its Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) business division will upgrade the existing TAP retail network point of sale device with its Cubic Mobile for Merchants Android app. Cubic Mobile for Merchants is an Android-based mobile app designed for both transportation agencies and retail. It allows agencies to sell TAP regional fare products through a dedicated network of participating retailers – making it convenient for travelers to purchase regional fare products for LA Metro and 24 partner agencies.”

“In order to interconnect the different systems, the Horizon 2020-funded project, ‘European Travellers Club (ETC)’, has developed and tested a new technology that could potentially deliver a solution for interoperability in the field of cross-border ticketing in public transport across Europe. Based on the concept of account-based ticketing, nationally differing ticketing systems can be linked without the need to change existing national standards. Key to the success of this is letting different systems coexist, but while introducing an interoperable layer that can connect the different existing national systems.”

“After weeks of sporting “Coming Soon” screens, the New York City MTA’s OMNY pilot finally launched today. The system augments the city’s MetroCard swipes with new contactless screens that work with contactless prepaid credit and debit cards and a variety of different smart devices. We’ve highlighted the latter already . For starters, the system will work with Apple, Google, Samsung and Fitbit Pay, which means it will be open to a large range of smartphones and wearables.”

“Commuters in the greater Paris region will be able to use their NFC mobile phone to store Navigo transit passes and T+ prepaid ticket books from September 2019. This follows the completion of a pilot of the new Smart Navigo service in the French capital in which 14,000 commuters downloaded the mobile app and 88% of users said they would use the service in the future.”

“- Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) today announced Fitbit Pay™ is available for consumers to use at seven major transit systems around the world, enabling Fitbit users to travel with ease. Fitbit also announced it will be part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) One Metro New York (OMNY) contactless fare payment pilot program. Any user in New York with Fitbit Charge 3 Special Edition™ , Fitbit Versa Special Edition™ and Fitbit Ionic™ devices will be able to securely and easily tap and pay-per-ride directly from their wrist on select MTA busses and subway lines, providing the convenience to keep their smartphones and wallets tucked away.”

“Taking public transportation to get to and from work, school or home is a critical part of daily life but can often lead to friction for riders. More than two-thirds (67%) of riders have missed a train while waiting in line to reload a transit card, according to a recent Visa survey of more than 1,000 New Yorkers who take public transportation. Eight out of ten (83%) people surveyed said they have had trouble getting their transit card to work at the turnstile. And two-thirds (66%) have left or forgotten funds on a transit card, at an average of $35.10 lost. Customers can soon simply tap their Chase Visa contactless cards or mobile device at the turnstile to ride the subway or bus. Whether a local or visitor to New York City, the rider experience is the same – fast, easy and secure.”

“Four years after Calgary Transit pulled the plug on plans for an electronic fare card, riders could soon be able to pay for their bus or CTrain ride through a smartphone app. Calgary Transit announced Tuesday it will launch a mobile ticketing pilot program allowing riders to pay for and validate their transit fare using the smartphone app My Fare . Testing will take place over 90 days from late June to late September on four routes”

“We are rolling out OMNY in phases. Starting on May 31, 2019, you can use OMNY onboard all Staten Island buses and at all subway station entrances on the 4, 5, and 6 lines between Grand Central-42 Street and Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr. All remaining bus routes, subway stations, and Staten Island Railway locations will be equipped by late 2020. You will be able to use OMNY for commuter rail by early 2021.”

“Brazilian transit operator MetroRio, which runs the Rio de Janeiro Metro, has begun the rollout of contactless payments in partnership with Visa , Banco do Brasil , Bradesco and Cielo , becoming the first transit operator in the world to use the new Visa Secure Access Module (SAM) technology as part of the project. The company’s plans were first revealed in March .”

“Transit card issuer Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) has partnered with Hong Kong Taxi Council (HKTC) to provide local taxi drivers with the ability to use their NFC phone to accept payments for cab rides from Octopus card users. Drivers install Octopus App for Business on their NFC-enabled Android mobile devices to accept payments from customers paying with Octopus cards.”

“Uber, which is days away from going public, has added in-app ticketing to its transit offering in Denver. This comes a few months after Uber first launched transit integration in the city . “For the first time ever, taking an Uber trip can mean taking public transit,” Uber Head of Transit David Reich said in a statement. “We are excited to expand our collaboration with RTD and Masabi to make Denver the first city in the world where riders can purchase transit tickets and ride public transit seamlessly through the Uber app. With this step, we are moving closer to making Uber’s platform a one-stop shop for transportation access, from shared rides to buses and bikes.””

“Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB ) today announced it is enabling transit cards in Apple Wallet so passengers can use their iPhone and Apple Watch to ride public trains, subways and buses. Transit cards in Apple Wallet are a convenient and secure alternative to physical cards. Cubic is working with Apple to roll out this technology in the U.S., starting with support for the Ventra card in Chicago later this year. Cubic and Apple are also working to support open-loop transit systems such as the new OMNY system launching in New York later this Spring.”

“Passengers traveling on the Taoyuan metro line will be able to pay their fares using a mobile app, starting Wednesday, the management company said Saturday. The mobile ticketing app, which was introduced on a trial basis last December, will become fully operational for all 21 stations on the line that stretches from Taipei Main Station to Huanbei in Taoyuan City, according to a statement issued by Taoyuan Metro Corporation (TMC). Using their credit or debit cards, passengers will be able to buy tickets via the app and swipe though the turnstiles at the metro stations with a QR code on their mobile devices, TMC said.”

“Smart ticketing has been introduced for passengers using major railway stations in the UK. The move sees travellers at all major stations across Britain, including London Waterloo, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central, able to store tickets securely on their mobile phone, on a smart card or in a printable email . The tickets can be read automatically at upgraded barriers and ticket readers at 890 stations. The system makes buying tickets faster and more secure, allows rail companies to move away from existing paper-based tickets and sets the scene for the introduction of a variety of innovative new types of rail fare.”

“Metro Line 1 in Jinan City, Shandong Province has become the first in China to adopt 3D facial recognition technology. After uploading their facial information via an app for the metro line, passengers can simply face a device at the entrance and pass the turnstile within two seconds.  The error rate is said to be only one in 1 million, while the technology can also detect fraudulent use of photos, videos or masks.  The 3D facial recognition technology-empowered gate can allow entry of 30 to 40 passengers per minute, a great boost to efficiency, said a staff member.”

“More than 55% of all payments in the London transit system are made via contactless instead of the legacy Oyster card, according to TfL figures for early April provided to PaymentsSource. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as the rapid uptake of contactless payments on London’s transit system and overall contactless usage show little signs of slowing. More than 21.6 million journeys per week are made on London public transit using contactless payments. More than 53,000 new contactless cards or new mobile contactless payments enter the TfL each day, and one in eight contactless journeys come via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or other mobile wallet apps.”

Apple confirmed last month that its mobile payments service, Apple Pay, is going to work with transit systems in major U.S. cities this year. It was later reported that New York City will run an Apple Pay pilot for transit on a couple of lines in the spring this year before rolling it out to additional lines throughout the year. There won’t be such a wait for Singapore where transit support has already gone live. TransitLink confirmedthat Apple Pay now works on any transit method in Singapore that supports Mastercard. It added that support for Visa will be coming in the second half of this year.

“UK: The Department for Transport has begun public consultation on the possible roll out of ‘pay-as-you-go’ smart ticketing in the region surrounding Greater London. It is envisaged that this would be more convenient for passengers, and reduce differences in fares paid by people by people with different working and travel patterns. The consultation is looking at the expansion of PAYG to medium-distance commuter routes in a radius of around 60 km, including Luton, Reading, Maidstone and East Grinstead.”

“At its big press event this morning, Apple announced that transit systems in a few major U.S. cities are picking up support for Apple Pay, allowing you to tap your phone or Apple Watch to pay for your ride. Details were light, but Apple confirmed that transit systems in New York City, Chicago and Portland would play friendly with Apple Pay starting later this year.”