Transit Fare By Phone?

A rider reports"

"As a long-time user of EZ Rider, a contactless payment method used on my local transit carrier (BART), I was pleased to see an even better alternative: paying for my tickets with my mobile phone. Instead of swiping the EZ Rider card, the service allows you to swipe your mobile phone over the sensors to open the fare gates. The card/phone is replenished periodically with automatic withdrawals from my bank account. The trial is being conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area for Sprint and Boost Mobile customers, and will be using a specially equipped phone for the duration of the trial."

"The phone is a nice alternative, and it's good to see public transit trying new ways to make it easier to ride. Granted, some of this technology is not new (Japan and South Korea lead the way here on large scale implementations), nonetheless it's a payment trend that could take hold even here in the states."