If you live in the Northeast and commute, you’re probably familiar with EZPass, that little device that lets you glide through toll booths (at 15 mph of course) without stopping. Well, a similar idea is coming to commuters who ride public transportation in New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie announced this week that NJ Transit and Google Wallet have teamed up to bring the payment system to rail lines and bus routes. Currently, New Jersey has the third largest public transportation system and is the first to partner with Google Wallet.
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Sprint Nexus S 4G users will be able to tap their smart phone to pay for fares at New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty and a number of bus routes in the area. This method of payment works by using the near field communication (NFC) to transfer credit card or payment data to the sensor. In fast-paced cities where transportation is always on the go and patience is not standard issue, being able to pay fares quickly will save riders time and grief. Another plus is that because it was a public-private partnership, New Jersey taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill. The mobile app is currently only available to Nexus users, Citi MasterCard and Google Prepaid cards, but Google has plans to include more Android NFC-capable devices in the future.
Credit: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com
Tags: 4G, Apps, Cell Phones, Communication, Gadgets
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