Like big sodas, paper ticket stubs may soon become a thing of the past in New York. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that, come next month, its employees will begin trials of a smartphone-based ticketing system aboard the Metro-North Railroad. While the grand experiment is currently closed to the public, it's said that railroad workers will use their Android, BlackBerry and iPhone handsets to purchase rail tickets, which may then be validated directly from their smartphone. During the trial, the new system will be compared to the current purchasing scheme that combines both ticket machines and on-board purchases. Should everything prove successful, the MTA will expand the Metro-North's new system to all-comers. Transit-minded folks will find the full PR after the break.
[Image credit: Masabi (Flickr)]
Continue reading New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad
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New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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