Last week (and my apologies for not referencing it sooner) our beloved NY1 ran a segment on how the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA has recently pitched an RFID alternative to the metrocard. The idea here is that the rfid chip would be detected without having to deal with the finicky swipe required by the metrocard. Apparently Chicago, Washington and London have already moved to this method (although London was not using it when Ortgeist visited last December).

PCAC's arguement is that there would be a cost savings to the system since that the new readers would have no moving parts and in turn would suffer less damage and hence need less repairs thsn the current slide readers. They also say that this would have an "e-z pass" effect on the system and allow for people to enter and leave stations and buses faster (since the card would make metrotards extinct). The hope is that this comparison would also carry over to motivating people to manage their fares online. They also add that technology would be relatively inexpensive to implement since the cards themselves would cost very little and the readers could simply be mounted on the stiles pretty much over the sliders. There's even talk elsewhere about smartcards help increase sales for other goods and services.

RFID tends to set off privacy concerns for many users. In the UK, Tesco took a huge public image hit about a year ago would they tried to implement a wide-ranging RFID plan. One of the nuttier complaints back when the MTA was shifting from the token to the metrocard was that "the man" could track you. That sort of thing becomes far more possible, practicable, and even desirable with RFID. Not to worry though since if you're reaaaaaaaaally worried about it, you could always find a way to hack the rfid anyway.