Apple Pay With Express Transit Mode Coming to D.C. Metro and More Chinese Cities in 2020

Apple Pay with Express Transit mode is coming to the Washington Metro in 2020, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced today. No specific timeline has been provided yet.

Starting next year, riders in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area will be able to add their reloadable SmarTrip fare card to the Wallet app and simply hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a contactless payment reader at Metrorail stations or on Metrobus buses to pay their fare.

smartrip dc metro apple pay express transit mode
Express Transit mode allows for tap-and-go payment, eliminating the need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. The device does not need to be waked or unlocked, either.

This announcement comes less than two weeks after Transport for London rolled out Apple Pay with Express Transit mode across its system. Apple Pay with Express Transit mode is also rolling out to 85 additional MTA stations in New York City this month, including the busy hub of Penn Station.

Express Transit mode is also supported in Portland, Beijing, Shanghai, and Japan.

Update: As noted by the blog Ata Distance, Apple Pay support for the Shenzhen Tong and Lingnan Pass fare cards is also planned for 2020. This will mark a major expansion of Apple Pay across transit systems in Shenzhen and several other cities in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Top Rated Comments

hsoj1006 Avatar
56 months ago
This is great news for someone like me who takes Metro often in DC. I absolutely hate taking out my wallet in the Metro Stations (some are SUPER shady). If I can just scan my Apple Watch, I am good with that!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
squirrelist Avatar
56 months ago
It sounds like you still have to have a SmarTrip account rather than just charge the account of whatever credit card you choose like New York is doing. It would have been great for tourists if they could just pay for the rides with their credit card rather than create an account with a balance that you will probably not fully deplete. But I'm sure a major source of income for WMATA is cards that get loaded with money that doesn't get used up.

The other thing that will make this annoying is every time you travel between New York and DC you'll have to go into your phone settings and swap the selected transit card.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
incoherent_1 Avatar
56 months ago
Now we just need a half functional transit system in DC and we’ll be all set!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
squirrelist Avatar
56 months ago

Does this get you through the turnstile, or just allow to pay with your phone? I travel a lot to D.C. and I have a collection of metro cards that cost me $2 each because I keep forgetting to bring the card. It would be great to not need the card at all, just wave your phone at the turnstile.
There don't seem to be any details released yet, but yes, this seems to be a replacement for the physical card. Apple's "Express Transit" feature allows you to assign a card in the Settings app on your iPhone or Watch (XS/XR, Watch Series 4 or higher, I believe) that doesn't require authentication, but just for certain transit agencies, not for general purchases. So no need to pull up Wallet or authenticate. You just tap the phone or watch like you would your physical card. I'm looking forward to this too because I lived in DC until last month and I'll be traveling back often for work. I almost forgot to put my SmarTrip card in my wallet before I came back recently.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vanilla35 Avatar
56 months ago
Holy **** it's about time. I've been waiting like 7 years for this.


Does this get you through the turnstile, or just allow to pay with your phone? I travel a lot to D.C. and I have a collection of metro cards that cost me $2 each because I keep forgetting to bring the card. It would be great to not need the card at all, just wave your phone at the turnstile.
It's described as being able to be used at the turnstile, which means we can finally rid ourselves of our awful physical metro card, and needing to take your wallet out every day to get to it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dontwalkhand Avatar
56 months ago

agreed!
being able to use Suica for literally all small payments almost everywhere was a cashless breakthrough.
(its all rather confusing to me still. i wonder if Express Pay is the best term to use for this? maybe Express Card?)
The official terminology is Express Transit Card. Though in the case of Japan, it’s used for more than transit.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
General Apps Messages

Google Reveals When to Expect RCS Support on iPhone for Improved Texting With Android Users

Friday March 29, 2024 7:14 am PDT by
In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting "later" in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the "fall...
airtag new orange

Criminals in Montreal Using AirTags to Steal Vehicles

Friday March 29, 2024 12:50 pm PDT by
Thieves in Montreal, Canada have been using Apple's AirTags to facilitate vehicle theft, according to a report from Vermont news sites WCAX and NBC5 (via 9to5Mac). Police officers in Burlington, Vermont have issued a warning about AirTags for drivers who recently visited Canada. Two Burlington residents found Apple AirTags in their vehicles after returning from trips to Montreal, and these...
top stories 30mar2024

Top Stories: WWDC 2024 Announced, New iPads Delayed, and More

Saturday March 30, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company's next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and...
iphone 16 cases sonny dickson 1

First iPhone 16 Cases Outline New Rear Vertical Camera Bump

Friday March 29, 2024 4:09 am PDT by
Photos of the first iPhone 16 cases have been shared online, offering another preview of the rumored new vertical rear camera arrangement on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Image credit: Accessory leaker Sonny Dickson Over the last few months, Apple has been experimenting with different camera bump designs for the standard iPhone 16 models, all of which have featured a vertical ...
Apple iPhone 15 Pro spatial video capture lifestyle

$3 App Shoots Better Quality Spatial Video Than iPhone's Camera App

Friday March 29, 2024 4:48 am PDT by
A $3 third-party app can now record spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro models in a higher resolution than Apple's very own Camera app. Thanks to an update first spotted by UploadVR, Spatialify can now record spatial videos with HDR in 1080p at 60fps or in 4K at 30fps. In comparison, Apple's native Camera app is limited to recording spatial video in 1080p at 30fps. Shortly after Apple's Vision ...