Several major U.S. cities support the Apple Pay for transit feature that Apple has rolled out, providing a simple way for those who use public transportation to pay for rides.
Apple Pay for transit works in Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
Some of these cities have supported Apple Pay for transit purposes for several years, and in others like Atlanta, support is new as of 2026. Atlanta launched its tap-to-pay MARTA contactless system in March 2026, allowing iPhone and Apple Watch users to tap to pay their fares at rail station fare gates using the Apple Wallet app.
Cities that support Apple Pay for transit allow iPhone owners to turn on Express Mode to pay for transit fares without needing to unlock their device and authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID. A card for Express Transit can be selected by opening up the Wallet and Apple Pay section of the Settings app and tapping on the Express Transit Card option to make a selection.
When a credit or debit card is associated with Express Mode, it can be used to pay for transit automatically with no authentication. On iPhone models that support power reserve, transit payments can also be made when the iPhone is out of battery. Power reserve works for up to five hours after an iPhone dies, and it is available on the iPhone XS and later.
Some cities support adding a credit or debit card to the Wallet app for transit, while others require a specific transit card to be added to the Wallet app. The Bay Area works with the Clipper app or a credit card. Chicago's system only works with the Ventra card, LA's transit works with the TAP card, and Portland's transit system works with the Hop card.
In some locations, there's also support for fare capping. With New York's OMNY system, for example, subway and local bus fares are capped at $35 per week. As long as you use the same device each time you tap pay for a ride, rides after the $35 cap will be free for the rest of the seven-day period. LA's TAP system and OC's Wave system also support fare capping for Apple Pay.
The iPhone 6s and 2016 iPhone SE and later all support Express Mode with Apple Pay for transit purposes. Express Mode also works on the Apple Watch Series 1 or later as long as watchOS 5.2.1 or later is installed.
Apple Pay for transit also works in several cities around the world, including London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Toronto, Beijing, and Shanghai.
When traveling, you will need to look into how transit works in the city you're in, but it is a simple way to use public transportation because there's no need to pre-purchase travel tickets at a kiosk. Apple has a website where the different transit systems are explained.
