When it comes to technology, New York has been doing many interesting things as of late. Just yesterday, we reported how the Empire State was in the process of turning all its old payphones into free WiFi hotspots. If that wasn’t enough innovation for ya’, there’s more. NYC announced today that it will be testing a smartphone-based ticketing system for the Metro-North Railroad.
Soon those who catch the train daily will have the option to both purchase and display train tickets through a free app available for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. This project is still premature, as a trial period is planned to go in effect sometime next month — railroad employees get first dibs.
The reason behind this is for speed and efficiency, of course. The MTA wants to see how fast the process is compared to on-board ticketing, as well as exploring potential fraud concerns. If the trial period goes well, consumers will be next in-line to receive this super convenient access. This indeed is a very cool prospect, but even if it passes all test, we have no idea when it would roll out to the public.