All Manhattan Subway Stations and Buses Now Equipped with MTA's Contactless Fare Payment System
Manhattan Joins Bronx for All Subway Access and Staten Island for All Bus and Railway Access to OMNY; Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx on Schedule for Full Completion by End of Year
View Photos and Video from News Conference
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials today announced that OMNY contactless fare payment readers have successfully been installed at all 151 Manhattan subway stations and on all 800-plus Manhattan buses. The completion of OMNY installation in the borough coincides with a recent uptick in ridership across the system and is expected to lead to increases in the number of customers moving away from the MetroCard, which will co-exist alongside OMNY until 2023.
OMNY is now available at 348 stations, with all 472 subway stations in the system on pace to be equipped with the state-of-the-art contactless fare payment system by the end of the year. Manhattan is the third borough to have all of its stations equipped with OMNY readers. Activation of OMNY in all Bronx stations was completed in early July, joining Staten Island which was completed in December 2019. Installation of OMNY readers in Queens and Brooklyn stations will continue through the end of the year.
"The OMNY train rolls on," said Al Putre, OMNY Executive. "Since launching the public pilot in late May of last year, we have methodically maintained our schedule and remain on pace to be everywhere in the system by the end of the year. It bears repeating that not even a global pandemic can hold us back. We are excited that anyone traveling within Manhattan can now pay their fare for subways and buses using OMNY."
“OMNY’s consistent progress is emblematic of the way we have approached modernizing our system,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim New York City Transit President. “Our customers love it and I look forward to every station being OMNY-equipped.”
“As we work hard tailoring our bus system for a post-pandemic world, modernized fare payment is a key piece of how we can speed up buses and bring customers back to our system,” said Craig Cipriano, Acting Senior Vice President of Buses for MTA New York City Transit and President of the MTA Bus Company “I am elated for our Manhattan customers who will never have to ask if their bus has OMNY.”
“We are one step closer to a fully contactless system, something that has become crucial in this new normal,” said Sarah Meyer, New York City Transit Chief Customer Officer. “New Yorkers are known for moving fast, and with OMNY they will be able to do just that with a quick and seamless way to pay.”
OMNY use has grown steadily. Approximately 1.72 million unique bank cards or smart devices have been tapped at OMNY readers since the program launched in May 2019. At OMNY-enabled stations, the market share of customers using OMNY instead of MetroCard has increased 95% over the last six months, from 4.4% in February 2020 to 8.6% in August 2020. On a typical weekday 110,000 taps occur and the figure increases every week. Overall, the system has recorded more than 19.5 million taps since its public launch in May 2019.
Customers can see the stations and buses where OMNY has been activated at the OMNY website, https://omny.info
Additional fare options will become available in 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 gradually introduce all remaining fare options and programs, including reduced fares for seniors and customers with disabilities, 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