NJ TRANSIT is the first public transportation agency to partner with Google Wallet, Google’s recently released contactless payment system. With Google Wallet, NJ TRANSIT bus and rail customers have the option to use their smartphones to tap and pay for transportation tickets at select locations.
Google Wallet is a free mobile app that transforms customers’ smartphones into their wallets, making “tap and pay” transactions quick and convenient by storing virtual versions of users’ credit cards on their phones. The technology uses “near field communication” (NFC), which enables wireless data transmission between two objects when they are brought in close proximity with one another. By making payments with a simple wave of their phone in front of a sensor, customers who use Google Wallet will no longer have to juggle cash or credit cards to make purchases.
“We are putting the latest technology to work for our customers and improve the overall customer experience, which is one of the areas of focus of our Scorecard initiative,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “By partnering with Google, we are leading the industry with emerging technologies that will streamline the way customers buy their transportation tickets.”
Currently, Google Wallet is available on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G phone and supports Citi MasterCard credit cards and a Google Prepaid Card, with plans to support additional card companies and more Android devices with NFC capabilities in the future. The public-private partnership with Google Inc. was developed at no cost to NJ TRANSIT.
NJ TRANSIT is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 165 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 19,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.