The Port Authority rolled out its new TAPP contactless payment system at several PATH train stations on both sides of the Hudson River, the agency announced Wednesday.
TAPP, which stands for Total Access PATH Payment, was rolled out at select turnstiles in five of the PATH’s terminal stations on Wednesday, including World Trade Center, 33rd Street, Hoboken, Journal Square, and Newark-Penn Station, as well as the Harrison stop. The Port Authority says these stations serve about 2/3 of the bi-state mass transit system’s riders; the agency aims to have 50% of PATH turnstiles equipped with TAPP by the end of this year.
Like the MTA’s OMNY system, TAPP allows riders to pay for their rides using a debit card or the digital wallet on their phone, eliminating the need to buy and load up a separate MetroCard or SmartLink card. The Port Authority says that it will ultimately launch a dedicated TAPP Card for riders who don’t have a smartphone or bank card, and all existing discount programs will eventually be integrated into the TAPP system.
“This was the first step in delivering on our promise to enhance the customer experience, and provide 21st-century technology across the PATH system,” said Clarelle DeGraffe, PATH’s director and general manager, at a press conference at the Oculus transit hub on Wednesday.
TAPP was developed by Cubic Transportation, the same vendor that developed OMNY; the Port Authority inked a $100 million contract in 2021 to develop the system. Port Authority executive director Rick Cotton said that since it’s an “open loop” system and payments can be accepted from bank cards or smartphones, most riders won’t even notice the difference.
“From the point of view of the rider, there’s really no difference. The entire point, in fact, of these tap-and-go systems is you have a credit card, if you have a smartphone, if you have a smartwatch, those are your individual devices, and those will all be readable interchangeably between the TAPP system and the OMNY system.”
The Port Authority began testing TAPP at the 33rd Street and Journal Square PATH stops back in December. Since then, over 1 million contactless payments have been recorded, said DeGraffe, averaging about 20,000 on a typical weekday.
A PATH fare remains at $2.75, even after the MTA raised the subway fare to $2.90 last summer.
