Photo by Kevin H.

Metro today announced it will begin testing near-field communication, or NFC, payment at several rail stations and along select bus routes in January, as Apple announced that its latest iPhone will finally be equipped to make mobile payments. But don’t throw away your SmarTrip yet.

Riders selected for a pilot program will be able to pay the fare at ten stations and along six bus routes by “next-generation smartphone, NFC-enabled watch, contactless credit and debit cards, Federal ID cards and more,” according to Metro. A spokesperson for the system says they hope to recruit 3,000 riders for the pilot with the goal of 2,000 completing it. Recruitment will begin later this year.

Installation of new fare gates will begin in October. Complete replacement of the gates and station vending machines could begin in 2017 if the pilot is successful. More info is below.

The 10 Metrorail stations selected for the pilot are: Shady Grove, Eisenhower Avenue, Bethesda, Pentagon City, Pentagon, Ballston, Gallery Place (7th & F), Farragut West, Navy Yard and Suitland. In addition, parking facilities at Shady Grove and Suitland will be included in the pilot.

The six Metrobus routes selected for the pilot are: 37 (Wisconsin Ave Limited), X9 (Benning Rd-H St Limited), 39 (Pennsylvania Ave Limited), K9 (New Hampshire Ave Limited), J4 (College Park-Bethesda Limited), and REX (Richmond Highway Express).