The Long Island Rail Road station in Mineola is among seven stations to have received a “smart card” friendly ticket vending machine.
The new machines can read LIRR customers’ smart cards and complete ticket transactions without requiring use of a bank card in the machine.
MTA spokesman Sal Arena said the new ticket vending machines were purchased as part of the LIRR’s regular program of replacing old equipment at the end of its useful life.
“We took this opportunity to introduce a smart card option with this procurement,” he said.
Arena said the cost of each new machine is $61,252. But he said it would not be passed on to commuters.
“There is no direct correlation between small procurements like this and commuting costs which are affected by many economic factors,” he said.
In addition to Mineola, “smart card” friendly TVMs have been installed at the Jamaica, Hicksville and Bayside stations along with three at Pennsylvania Station. The TVMs being replaced are being moved to other stations, including three East End stations on the Montauk Branch that until now have had no machines.
The smart card technology is a no-contact payment option using a credit card which has an imbedded chip. Customers tap the card on the TVMs smart card reader or target located just under the touchscreen. The new TVMs are also equipped to handle bank card and cash transactions.
More of the ATMs will be purchased for other LIRR stations as old ticket machines need to be replaced and the LIRR’s budget allows, Arena said. The LIRR plans to upgrade ATM machines at the East New York Station and Nostrand Avenue Station in Brooklyn, Little Neck Station in Queens and Inwood Station and Malverne Station in Nassau County.
“These new machines give Long Island Rail Road customers another convenient payment option,” LIRR President Helena Williams said in a statement. “We will be monitoring performance and listening closely to the feedback from our customers regarding smart card payment systems.”
As older machines are relocated, every station on the Montauk Branch with the exception of Bellport will be able to provide tickets 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This will also mean that customers at the newly equipped stations will no longer be exempt from the higher fare when they purchase their ticket on board the train.
In 2012, 76 percent of the 31 million tickets sold by the Long Island Rail Road were purchased at TVM machines.
The seven new TVMs bring the total number of LIRR automated ticket machines to 279 system wide.
