If you’re commuting to New York City, coming back from work or play is getting a bit easier if you’re taking the PATH. Per a press release, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced on May 22nd, 2024 that PATH’s new contactless fare payment system, TAPP, is now available at all stations systemwide in both New York and New Jersey with the activation of new TAPP readers at the Christopher Street and 9th Street stations. As PATH adds more TAPP readers, turnstiles at all stations will continue to accept TAPP, SmartLink, and MetroCards as fare payments. This has been slowly rolling out over the last few months across the region. Read on for more about TAPP and what this means for New Jersey and NYC residents.
The Details
With the installation and activation this week of TAPP readers at the Christopher Street and 9th Street stations, riders at all New York stations can now pay for PATH rides using any contactless credit/debit card or a digital wallet on their smartphones. PATH installed TAPP readers at the 14th Street and 23rd Street stations in Manhattan earlier this month, and all PATH stations in New Jersey were outfitted in April. TAPP, which is short for Total Access PATH Payment, is an open-loop contactless payment system that allows riders to use their own preferred method of contactless payment instead of a specific PATH-issued SmartLink card or a pay-per-ride MetroCard. Existing PATH discounts for SmartLink users remain in effect, and will be available when PATH issues a TAPP fare card.
Read More: Fare Hikes + One-Way Tickets: NJ Transit Updates
“Tens of thousands of PATH riders so far have experienced the ease of tap-and-go to travel between New York and New Jersey, and we encourage more customers to try using their own credit or debit card, or their smartphone,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a press release. “We are thrilled that riders no longer have to stand in lines to top up their SmartLink or MetroCards because their PATH fare payment of choice is already in their own hand.”
The Port Authority introduced the new contactless fare system in December 2023 during a pilot program at the Journal Square and 33rd Street stations. After this week’s TAPP reader activations in New York, almost 120 PATH turnstiles are now TAPP-enabled. So far, riders have TAPPed into the system nearly five million times, with an average of nearly 70,000 weekday riders and more than 40,000 weekend riders using TAPP. Equipment supporting both SmartLink and MetroCard as PATH fare payment remains operational as more customers adopt TAPP as their preferred payment method and PATH continues to phase in the remaining turnstiles systemwide with TAPP-enabled technology. The system has a total of 341 active turnstiles.
PATH’s rollout of its new modern fare payment system comes as the ridership on the railroad returns from the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the system served 50.5 million passengers, which was its highest ridership since pre-pandemic 2019 and a 19 percent increase over 2022’s total passenger volume. Currently, PATH serves an average of 65 percent of its pre-pandemic ridership on weekdays and more than 90 percent on the weekends.
See More: 11 Amtrak Train Trips via Newark Under 4 Hours
To stay up to date on PATH service and train schedules, use the PATH mobile app, RidePath.
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