Community Corner
Quinn Pushing to End Swipe MetroCards: Report
Swipe-free cards were supposed to be introduced last year, report says.
This article was written by Matt Hampton.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is pushing the MTA to adopt a swipe-free MetroCard policy, according to the New York Daily News.
The paper wrote on Sunday night that the mayoral candidate took the transit authority to task for missing its self-imposed swipeless card deadline in 2012.
The MTA has gone through two chairmen since the 2012 deadline was announced, the second of whom — Joe Lhota — is currently seeking the Republican endorsement to run for mayor.
A spokesman for the MTA said the agency is waiting to see if a private company will step forward to help create such a program.
MasterCard ran a six-month pilot program in 2010 that allowed card holders to simply pass their credit card through a scanner to enter the subway. According to published reports, less than a quarter of one percent of commuters used the program.
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