SacRT today implemented a pilot of the contactless fare payment option on the Green Line light rail, which goes from 13th St Station to Township 9 Station at Richards Blvd & 7th St. This is a route to start a pilot, because the Green Line receives very little use. Riders on the route this afternoon ranged from one to four, on the one light rail car that is is operated on a 30 minute headway on the Green Line.
The contactless fare payment reader, shown below, is mounted at one end of the light rail car, in the case of the car I was on, at the Township 9 end. So a person boarding at the other three doors must walk to the reader. This reader is a completely separate system from the ConnectCard readers that are available in one to four locations at light rail stations, and the one mounted on every bus. The entire region uses ConnectCard, not just SacRT.
SacRT has said they will roll out the system across light rail sometime this summer, but it probably won’t work until every rail car has a reader. And eventually to all buses, but they haven’t given a timeframe for that. ConnectCard and the ZipPass app will continue to work, though perhaps eventually be phased out.
I tested the system out using my Apple Watch, and one of the credit cards I have installed in Apple Wallet. For the outbound trip, I used it as a regular credit card, requiring a “Double tap to pay”. For the inbound trip, I converted the same credit card to an Express Transit card, which does not require a double-click. The equivalent on an iPhone would be ‘Pay with Touch ID’ or automatic payment. I do not know if Android phones work the same way as iOS devices.
I did not test the reader to see if my regular physical credit card would work. The SacRT information page, https://www.sacrt.com/apps/sacrt-to-offer-contactless-fare-payment-onboard-green-line-light-rail/, implies that the card must show the contactless symbol in order to be useable. None of my regular credit cards are so enabled. But the cards installed on my devices (Apple Watch and Apple iPhone) can be used even though the physical card does not show the symbol.
My charge showed up in the LittlePay system as below. Discount fares, such as disabled and senior, are not yet available in this system.
This system is part of the Cal-ITP (California Integrated Transit Project) statewide effort to make all transit systems payable by contactless credit cards or devices.
Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) 
The Tap to Ride contactless fare system is now installed on all light rail cars, so Green Line, Gold Line, Blue Line. The devices are still only at one end of the cars, so you may have to walk to the other to use it. There is still no provision for discount fares.
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