MTA pres: New fare-paying system to replace 'dated' MetroCard

MTA president Jay Walder said Wednesday he looks forward to a new tap-and-go card to replace the MetroCard, calling the current fare-payment card “dated.”

Although the MetroCard was a great innovation in the ‘90s, Walder said, “it’s a dated technology.”

Responding to a newspaper report about malfunctioning MetroCards, Walder acknowledged that one-in-five swipes result in an error — and that it even happens to him.

“My children make fun of me each time that I mis-swipe,” Walder said at a board meeting Wednesday.

The agency, which runs wants a new payment method in place by 2015, met with met with credit card, computer and electronics companies earlier this month to brainstorm. The MTA tested a tap-and-go system last year.

The new card would have an activation fee, and the MTA hopes it could eventually be used on commuter trains, bridges and tunnels, in addition to buses and subways. Walder said riders may be able to add value to their cards online, and would save passengers time while also saving the agency money.

The MTA Wednesday also showed off its madeover website, which was re-launched Tuesday after a 65 percent spike in web traffic since last year. The MTA hopes the new site will be easier to navigate and will make it easier for riders to plan trips online, or using new smart phone applications located on the site’s new app center.