Contactless cards for single transit system -- Sept. 19, 2005

The fare cards will have a "contactless" microchip that does not have to touch the machine that reads them and is similar to chips - often taped to the inside of a car's windshield - that are used to automatically collect fees on some toll roads. The traveler will have to bring the card to within about 4 inches, or 10 centimeters, of the machine and will hear a beep when the fare has been deducted from the card.

In the United States, tests using contactless pay cards have been made in Chicago and Washington.
They are considering the smart-card systems, as are San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, said
Ian Woodroofe

Some cities have integrated the cards with fast-pay systems in shops, and in Hong Kong, for example, the same card can be used to board public transport and to buy a latte at a coffee shop.

"Being able to use a single card for all networks simplifies things and offers the possibility of giving incentives to people who travel in particular regions or at certain times," said Tim Boric, a representative of Rover, an organization that seeks to guard the rights of users of public transportation in the Netherlands.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/18/business/wireless19.php