My local transit authority is still on a token system for bus and subway, made more frustrating by the serious lack of actual machines where you can purchase them from. Commuter rail is on a separate ticket system, made more frustrating by the fact that there are zero machines anymore where you can purchase them, lack of ticket windows at many stations, and punitive on board purchase price.
Supposedly they're studying and planning to move to some sort of single payment system, like an RFID based contactless card system which might also be compatible with similarly enabled credit cards for occasional riders.
I've been skeptical about the likelihood of a sensible system being implemented, as one gets the feel that such systems are too often designed by people who don't actually use mass transit.
During my recent travels to a place I hadn't been to in several years, before they'd had such a system, I got a chance to experience an RFID system in action. The implementation is surprisingly good, including the ability to load the card with monthly passes and similar, along with a smart fare collection system which set a daily maximum at what an equivalently purchased day pass would cost (meaning, no need to buy a daily pass as it would max out at that level). Anyway, hopefully my local transit authority does as well...
