Your physical card's value isn't updated until it syncs with the internet. This happens when you scan your card at a ConnectCard terminal, but it also happens within a day or two of you riding the bus, because the buses go back to the garage at the end of the day and sync all the cards that were used that day. The disclaimer says "up to 48 hours" because there is small chance that your bus won't sync every single day. But what the disclaimer doesn't tell you is that your card's value will never be updated until you do one of those two things. I added $20 to my card in October, in anticipation of maybe going back to the office more often, and that balance didn't actually take effect until I tapped my card on a terminal like two weeks ago.

Also, in addition to your proposal being several orders of magnitude more complicated than you realize, it's also kind of a "faster horse" suggestion. The solution to this problem isn't having ConnectCard terminals everywhere. The solution is being able to pay with your phone, which I think you already can to some extent. In NYC pretty much no one uses physical card anymore, the MTA just supports every single NFC payment platform and they just tap their phones and walk on through. I assume that's where PRT is trying to get.