Ema Alice: The New York City subway is set to switch from the MetroCard to OMNY, a contactless payment system, at the start of the new year.
The last day to buy or refill a MetroCard, which launched in 1994, is Wednesday, but the cards will be accepted into mid-2026. The final acceptance date is yet to be announced.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) announced the impending change to the tap-and-go system, first introduced in 2019, in March. The new system allows riders to pay transit fares directly via digital wallets, contactless credit and debit cards and physical OMNY cards.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said at the time that 65 percent of riders already pay using tap-and-go and called it the “fastest, easiest, and most convenient way to pay the fare.” The MTA also noted that 85 percent of regular-fare customers and 55 percent of reduced-fare customers are using the OMNY system.
In December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said tap-and-go use had increased even further, with 94 percent of subway and bus trips paid for via the new system.
Under OMNY, full-fare customers receive free, unlimited rides for the rest of the week once they have paid $34, the equivalent of 12 trips, in a week. Reduced-fare customers will receive the same benefits once they spend $17 in a week.
The MTA also expects to save at least $20 million annually in costs related to MetroCard production and distribution, vending machine repairs and cash collection and handling.
OMNY physical cards are also available for purchase or reloading at 980 vending machines in all 472 subway stations. Full-fare and reduced-fare transit customers can also transfer value from a MetroCard to an OMNY card at customer service centers in select subway stations or in lower Manhattan.
Riders can also register for an OMNY account online, link their card and set up automatic reloads, according to OMNY’s website.
OMNY cards are accepted on MTA buses, subways, Staten Island Railway, Roosevelt Island Tram, Hudson Rail Link and AirTrain-Howard Beach and Air-Train Jamaica stations.
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