Two-Thirds of Subway System Now Equipped With Contactless Readers
Subway and Bus Rollout Remains On Time and On Budget, Expected To Be Completed By End of Year
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced significant additional progress on its rollout of OMNY, the new contactless fare payment system that will ultimately replace MetroCard in 2023. There are now 310 subway stations – roughly two-thirds of the system's 472 total – that are equipped with contactless OMNY readers which allow customers to pay their fare using contactless bank cards, smart phones, and wearables. The MTA also announced that OMNY installation has been completed on the and lines and that all but one station has received OMNY on the and lines. Every subway station remains on schedule to be equipped with OMNY by year's end.
The entire project remains on time and on budget thanks to the acceleration of work after installation was suspended for nearly six weeks due to Covid-19. Other than the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum station, which is currently undergoing an ADA accessibility upgrade, every single numbered line in the system is now equipped with OMNY validators.
"We've maintained laser focus on this project since the day we launched the public pilot at the end of last May," said OMNY Program Executive Al Putre. "Not even a global pandemic can stop the OMNY express rollout. I'm eager to continue at maximum speed and complete the final third of this game-changing new fare payment system by the end of the year."
OMNY users have shown enthusiastic growth both before and since the beginning of the pandemic. The portion of riders using OMNY at stations equipped with OMNY readers increased 168% since August 2019, and 50% since May 2020 as more customers experience OMNY at both ends of their journeys. Overall, the system has recorded more than 16 million taps since launch. Customers can see the stations where OMNY has been activated at the OMNY website, https://omny.info.
Additional fare options, comparable to the current 7-day and 30-day passes, will be available in the first quarter of 2021, after the activation of OMNY across the entire NYC Transit system.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT MTA FARE PAYMENTS AND OMNY:
- A list of all subway stations and bus routes where OMNY is currently in use is at this link: https://omny.info/system-rollout
- The MetroCard was first tested in the system in 1993, debuting to the larger public in January 1994. All turnstiles were MetroCard-enabled by May 1997 and all buses began accepting it by the end of 1995. Tokens were sold until April 2003 and acceptance was discontinued that May in subway stations and that December on buses.
- OMNY readers accept contactless cards from companies such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, as well as digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Fitbit Pay.
- Following the completion of OMNY installation at all subway turnstiles and on buses, the MTA will introduce all remaining fare options, including unlimited ride passes, reduced fares, student fares, and more.
- In 2021, the MTA will introduce an OMNY card at retail locations throughout the New York region.
- Also in 2021, the MTA will begin to install new vending machines at locations throughout the system.
- Only after OMNY is fully available everywhere MetroCard is today, expected in 2023, will the MTA say goodbye to the MetroCard.
- Purchasing your fare with cash will remain an option. Additional info about OMNY is available at https://OMNY.info