Transportation

Massachusetts transit faces issues with contactless ticket machines

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November 16, 2021

The new ticket machines on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Orange line allow riders to use smartphones and contactless cards for payment, but users are having some difficulty adapting, according to a boston.com report.

The issues are caused by security upgrades included in the machines, which are designed to read credit and debit cards embedded with a microchip, rather than the magnetic stripe cards.

The new machines require users to leave their card in the reader until the transaction has completed and the screen instructs them to remove the card rather than swiping them in the reader, as in the old machines, although new machines still take magnetic stripe cards.

Users are also instructed to enter their billing address zip code, an extra security step.

Debit cards are presenting an additional problem.

If the user chooses the "credit" option for a debit card, the transaction will be denied. The MBTA is working with the vendor to address the issue, the agency said.

MBTA officials said the best option is to use the machines' contactless rectangular tap target.

The agency is aiming to have all Red, Green, Blue, Orange and Silver lines' machines upgraded this spring.