Soon, T riders will be able to hop on the subway or bus with a tap of their phones or credit card - The Boston Globe (2024)

“It’s that type of thing not only for our regular riders but for visitors that make it so much better to use our system, and we’re excited about it,” said T general manager Phillip Eng in an interview.

In 2018, the T chose San Diego-based Cubic Corp. and United Kingdom-based financier John Laing to overhaul the T’s fare collection system for more than $700 million. The new system was supposed to fully replace the old system by 2021, but technological glitches with the Cubic fare readers and other problems, in 2020, pushed back implementation and raised the cost of the project to nearly $1 billion.

The total amount the T owes for the system will shrink from $967 million to $926 million, the agency said Thursday, thanks to a recent restructuring of the contract to account for delays.

The delay did, however, force the T to spend more than $40 million on upgrades to its existing fare collection equipment to bridge the gap.

The rollout of the first phase of the system this summer is an important milestone, Eng said, as the agency works with Cubic to develop the rest of its features. By the end of the summer, riders will be able to board buses and subways by tapping credit cards or smartphones with mobile wallets, allowing for all-door boarding on buses and Green Line trains. The feature will not work on the Mattapan Trolley Line, which is is getting fare readers on the platforms, until the end of the year, the agency said.

The T is in the process of hiring 16 fare engagement officers who will be trained and start interacting with riders of buses and the Green Line by early winter, the agency said. Later, the officers will begin writing tickets for people they find have not paid fares. The citations will start with a written warning, then escalate to $50 for the second, third, and fourth offenses, then $100 for the fifth and any subsequent offenses within a three-year period.

Those who prefer to stick with the Charlie Card or cash will still be able to use those options for now.

“Cubic will devote all available resources and do everything in our power to ensure a seamless and successful rollout,” said Peter Torrellas, president of Cubic Transportation Systems.

The next phase, which the T said will be rolled out next spring, will include new Charlie Cards and new and more vending machines, for people who don’t have credit cards or smartphones, or simply prefer the Charlie cards. By the spring of 2026, the T said, riders will be able to use their credit cards and phones to board commuter rail trains and ferries.

“This is about restoring public confidence and making it easier and a preferred choice, I like to say, to use mass transportation,” Eng said.

Still, some have questioned how the T’s contract with Cubic can cost the agency $1 billion when New York City’s transit agency, which operates a much larger system, paid the same company hundreds of millions less for a similar product and has had contactless payment for years.

New York transit officials announced last week that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is opting for a different company instead of Cubic to bring contactless payment to its commuter rail. Most subway and bus riders there don’t use the credit card and smartphone tap system though, StreetsBlogNYC reported, because it doesn’t allow for discounted student fares and pre-tax monthly passes, though officials say those are on the way.

The T’s new contactless payment system will include users of the agency’s reduced fare programs for seniors, students, and people with disabilities, the agency said. People enrolled in fare programs through their employer or school should to be able to access contactless payment by next spring, the agency said.

Critics have also questioned whether it is wise for the T to be investing so much money in a new fare collection system when some Massachusetts transit agencies, including the T, are piloting fare-free bus service.

Also at Thursday’s T meeting, board members again lamented the agency’s dire financial situation, but did not offer any solutions.

Budget proposals from Governor Maura Healey, the House of Representatives, and the Senate for the upcoming fiscal year all leave the T hundreds of millions of dollars short of what it needs to fund day-to-day operations come July 1. The T plans to drain its rainy day fund to make up the difference.

The agency’s $9.6 billion five-year spending plan for infrastructure enhancements and upgrades that board members will vote on next month leaves $11 billion worth of important projects unfunded. Long promised enhancements, including construction of the Arborway bus garage to house a fleet of electric buses, as well as accessibility improvements for many stations remain without a source of money.

“We have the choice to either do something or continue on a road that creates gridlock, lack of housing, and inability to grow our economy,” said board member Thomas McGee. “We all have to come together to find a way to get the dollars to make these projects and proposals and the future opportunity a reality.”

Taylor Dolven can be reached at taylor.dolven@globe.com. Follow her @taydolven.