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Most people who live in Boston use the reloadable CharlieCard (https://www.mbta.com/fares/charliecard) - these report as Mifare Classic 1k, which is a similar chip

There are single-use fares as well, the "CharlieTicket" that you might've encountered.

More CharlieCard NFC info:

https://medium.com/@bobbyrsec/operation-charlie-hacking-the-...

https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2031/DEF%20CON%2031%20pre...

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Yeah I figured but you can't buy a charliecard online to load into your smartphone wallet, and I only needed it the once, and since it took more than an hour to get to Cambridge due to some combination of circus acts I used Blue bikes for the remainder of the day.

Ah yes, it's not quite there, but almost. Contactless payment directly at the turnstile is coming to Boston MBTA this year, I believe. Like how NYC works now, where you can just use your credit card for entry.

This is the London system we’ve had for a decade, it was licensed to other areas a few years ago.

I found myself in Paris having to cross the other day and forgot how terrible the old way of buying tickets was, amazed that it’s still the norm in so many cities

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