InComm, LA Metro expand network for contactless transit card sales

InComm has partnered with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to more than quadruple the number of retail locations at which customers can purchase and reload its contactless TAP transit fare cards.

Currently the LA Metro contactless transit smart cards can be purchased at roughly 450 locations across Los Angeles County. As a result of the new InComm partnership the number of purchase and reload locations will expand countywide to more than 2,200 stores in 2020.

TAP is one of the larger smart card systems in the U.S. with an average of 24 million transactions processed every month, according to the press release. The LA Metro transports about 1.3 million passengers daily on a fleet of 2,200 clean air buses and six rail lines.

Transit systems in the U.S. and overseas have been experiencing a growth in ridership and digital payments as many have begun to adopt contactless cards and contactless smartphone payment apps. When the New York transit system launched its open-loop contactless OMNY payment system in June it experienced 39,000 riders using it in just the first three days — against projected usage of just 13,500 riders.

According to Transport for London, the London Underground brings in 53,000 new contactless users each day as riders switch away from the legacy Oyster transit card. Currently more than 21.6 million journeys per week are made on London public transit using contactless payments (both contactless card and mobile contactless payments).