On Apr 28, 6:01 pm, Tom Anderson wrote:

This is my last day in New Jersey; I'm flying home tomorrow. A few
things have changed since I was last here. NJ Transit fares have gone
up, it's now $1.35 on the River Line and Newark City Subway, now
renamed Newark Light Rail; HBLR is now $1.90.

On PATH the 'Smartlink' contactless card is now in use, alongside the
PATH Quickcard, and the pay-per-ride Metrocard. The fare has risen to
$1.75 in March this year, it had been $1.50 since I first came over
here six years ago, and the facility to by by cash at a few turnstiles
has been removed; I'm durprised that this wasn't done when the new
turnstiles were installed about three years ago, and the existing coin
acceptors wereconnected to them via a large metal box, containing I
don't know what.

If you use a Metrocard $1.75 is deducted per ride, but you still get a
bonus if you top up $10 or more. Unlimited ride Metrocards are still
not accepted. 11 trip Quickcards have been replaced by 10 trip ones
at $13,
20 trip ones are $26 and 40 trip ones are $52. These are still
available from newsagents and NJ Transit ticket machines, but not PATH
ones. The Port Authority have stated that Quickcards will be phased
out, but haven't given a timescale. They expire after 180 days, so
once withdrawn they will disappear quick quickly.

Few people seem to be using the new Smartlink cards yet. I've got
one, they are sold with 10 trips on for $18, i.e. $5 charge for the
card, by machines which only take $20 in cash, and give $2 change.
They can be topped up at PATH ticket machines, with the same number of
trips, and at the same cost, as Quickcards. They can also have
unlimited passes loaded onto them at $6 for 1 day, $18 for 7 days or
$54 for 30 days. Unlimited passes are only available on Smartlink
cards. The cards can have both trips and unlimited passes loaded at
the same time; the unlimited pass will be used if there is one, but if
the card is used again within 18 minutes (I'm not sure if this is only
at the same station, or at another one) then one trip will be ducted,
so the card can be 'passed back' to another passenger travelling with
you. So far so good, but now for the negative bit. They are only for
PATH, so in this way they are a step backwards. The MTA have a trial
of a contactless system in use at a few stations on the Subway, but
this is quite different, and is being run in conjunction with
Citibank; I don't know the details. When you buy the card from the
machine you don't get a wallet with it; I keep mine in my Oyster
wallet. I have heard of problems when two contactless cards are used
in the same wallet, but my Smartlink card works fine with my Oyster
next to it; whether the Oyster will read when next to the Smartlink
I'll know on Thursday.

My guess would be that a single contactless card will one day be
available for use on MTA metro and buses, and PATH, but it will be
some years away yet. There's no indication that this might be
extended to Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road, HBLR, Newark
Light Rail, NJ Transit trains and buses or ferries. I would guess
that it will probably be accepted on the Staten Island Railway if it
does become permanent on the subway. The trial period was to have
ended by now, but has been extended. This all seems to still be some
way behind where London is with the Oyster.

There's still no chip and pin for credit cards here, but a mag stripe
and pin system does seem to be in use in some places.