New York Today: The MetroCard’s Future

Michael Nagle for The New York Times Please swipe again.

Updated 7:47 a.m.

Good Wednesday morning. Some things are changing â€" for example, the weather.

Others are not.

Years after the news that the MetroCard was on the way out, it’s still here.

Why’s that?

We asked Michael DeVitto, the New York City Transit official in charge of fare programs, who said there was no immediate timetable for withdrawal.

“Within the next five years,” he said.

He was more forthcoming on the question of what, exactly, will replace the MetroCard, which first slid into circulation in 1993.

For one, phones.

“Importantly, we’ll accept contactless chip-enabled phones,” he said.

Contactless chip technology allows devices to securely exchange information over very short distances.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to issue its “own chipped media,” for people without smartphones.

It also plans to accept prepaid chipped cards from supermarkets and banks.

For now, though, the chips in question are not yet being used to make payments, Mr. DeVitto said.

(Also, Apple’s iPhone does not feature the chip).

What about turnstiles? Vending machines?

Come ask Mr. DeVitto tonight, at the New York Transit Museum.

He’s talking to Benjamin Kabak, the blogger behind Second Ave. Sagas, at 6:30.

Here’s what else you need to know.

WEATHER

Less sun, more drear. Cloudy with a high of 43.

A chance of light rain in the afternoon and through the night.

Tomorrow: a beautiful day.

COMMUTE

Subways: Delays on the A, C and Franklin Avenue Shuttle. Southbound Q skips some local stops in Brooklyn. Check latest status.

Path: Delays of 15 minutes on Journal Square-33rd Street trains.

Rails: Looking good. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. Transit status.

Roads: Delays of up to 30 minutes at the G.W.B. and Lincoln Tunnel. Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect all week.

COMING UP TODAY

- The transportation commissioner, Polly Trottenberg, attends a town-hall meeting about pedestrian safety in Astoria, Queens. 7 p.m. [R.S.V.P.]

- A one-day conference about biographies, featuring more than a dozen authors, at CUNY’s Graduate Center in Midtown. 1 p.m. [Free]

- A talk on the history of the American bison, live and bronzed, at the Met. 6 p.m. [$30]

- A drug journalist, Mike Power, on online emporia and synthetic drugs, at the Drug Policy Alliance in Midtown. 6 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P.]

- “A Tale of Two Syrias,” a documentary about a monk and a fashion designer, at Alwan for the Arts in Lower Manhattan. 7 p.m. [$10]

- Broadway theaters dim their marquees for one minute in memory of Mitch Leigh, composer of “Man of La Mancha.” 7:45 p.m.

- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.

IN THE NEWS

- Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval rating has slipped since January, a poll shows. [New York Times]

- There’s been a surge in violence at Rikers Island. [New York Times]

- Investigators found a leak in a gas main near the site of the East Harlem building collapse. [Daily News]

- A Queens man is suing OkCupid for not screening out swindlers. [New York Post]

- A 13-year-old girl jumped through the window of a moving car to retrieve her stolen iPhone. “She don’t play,” her dad said. [DNAinfo]

- Scoreboard: Devils bow to Bruins, 4-2. Wild engulf Islanders, 6-0. Rangers muffle Senators, 8-4.

AND FINALLY…

Happy “Kick Butts Day.”

Since 1996, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has funded and otherwise encouraged anti-smoking events across the country on this day.

Some local highlights:

Lesbian and gay youth will be cat-walking for cash prizes at a “Don’t take a drag” queen race in Manhattan.

And a swim team - the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club’s Madison Dolphins - will hold a “swimming challenge to demonstrate the impact smoking has on your lungs.”

This evening, a pool in the Bronx will be filled with “giant floating cigarette-shaped objects to simulate the impact that tobacco has on athletic performance.”

Sandra E. Garcia contributed reporting.

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