Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) is bringing an end to its year-long contactless credit and debit card pilot program at station fare gates, according to Progressive Railroading.

Given the current rates of bank-card usage at PATCO stations, processing costs would exceed fares by more than 150%, agency officials estimate. During the pilot, PATCO averaged 3,000 contactless card transactions per month.

“We hoped it would demonstrate that our automated fare collection system is compatible with the latest wave-and-pay technology,” said John Rink, PATCO General Manager. “It did, but for now the transaction costs for bank-issued contactless cards are too high to justify adopting the program permanently.”

Riders will still be able to pay with PATCO FREEDOM contactless stored-value card, which can be recharged with Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit or debit cards.

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