By Joseph Morales

 The One Metro New York(OMNY) system is slowly but surely becoming the dominant way New Yorkers pay to ride buses and subways throughout the city. With the rollout of OMNY beginning on select bus routes and at certain subway stations in 2019, riders have been able to tap their smart device or card on an OMNY reader to board the bus or subway, rather than use a prepaid MetroCard. The goal for the MTA has been to develop a contactless fare option that is more flexible and convenient for its riders. In addition to the added convenience for riders, OMNY has provided the MTA with the ability to implement fare policies they were not previously able to such as fare capping. With fare capping, riders who spend $34 or take 12 rides in a single week can ride free for the remainder of that week. Before fare capping, the same riders either had to pay for an Unlimited or Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard which often would have left them in situations where they paid for rides they did not take or wound up paying more for their rides because they did not purchase the Unlimited MetroCard. The MTA had planned to retire the MetroCard in favor of OMNY by the end of this year, however that has been delayed to 2024 due to software issues.

                  While OMNY has led to increased convenience for many, it unfortunately has for the most part excluded those who do not use bank or credit cards, as even paying with a smart device requires the use of a card in a mobile wallet. According to 2019 data from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection(DCWP) in  published in 2021, 9.4% of New Yorkers are unbanked, with higher concentrations of unbanked New Yorkers, in low-income, transit-dependent neighborhoods. While the OMNY Card has existed since 2021, it has only been available in select retailers and came with a $5 surcharge to purchase, making it cost-prohibitive for many. 

                  Fortunately at several major subway stations in the city, that has changed with the first OMNY vending machines providing OMNY Cards having now been installed at six subway stations in the boroughs since October 30th. The machines are located at the 86th St(4,5,6) and Bowling Green(4,5) stations in Manhattan, the Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr station in Brooklyn, both Fordham Rd stations in The Bronx and the Junction Blvd Station in Queens. These stations besides the ones in Manhattan are all in communities where at least 12% of residents were unbanked, helping to bring OMNY to an even greater number of New Yorkers. These machines work just like the MetroCard ones, only these produce OMNY Cards rather than the traditional MetroCards. These cards can then be tapped on OMNY readers on both subways and buses rather than a smart device or other card. For those with bank cards who would still prefer to use an OMNY Card at the turnstile, they also have the option of reloading their cards online through an OMNY account. You can go to the OMNY website to set up an OMNY account here:https://omny.info/register. 

                     While the OMNY Card will help immensely to increase access now, when will the machines be rolled out citywide? The primary reasoning provided by the MTA for OMNY’s current rollout delay of 15 months so far has been software issues along with the likely diminished COVID concerns with installing vending machines. They have also cited the set up of the fare capping program which has running smoothly for nearly two years now. Given that the causes of most of the delays have subsided, the OMNY machines will likely be rolled out to more stations throughout this year and 2024 once the agency has seen them in use long enough at their current locations. Given how OMNY is still mostly inaccessible to unbanked New Yorkers, the MTA may want to prioritize bringing OMNY machines to subway stations in neighborhoods that are disproportionately unbanked. Often, these communities where check cashing businesses largely outnumber banks are also the low-income communities where riders would benefit the most from the MTA’s fare capping policy. 

                      Some may also wonder where and if OMNY vending machines will be available on Staten Island. Currently, the MTA only has MetroCard machines installed at three locations and just two Staten Island Railway(SIR) stations (St. George and Tompkinsville) out of the 21 stations on the train line. The other machine is at the Eltingville Transit Center, which is a hub for buses in the Arden Heights neighborhood.  In 2013, a report from the State Senator Diane Savino regarding the conditions of the Sir, recommended that MetroCard machines be in all SIR stations. This was in part due to the fact that many passengers exiting the train at St. George would miss the Staten Island Ferry as they needed to pay the fare to exit the train station and they could not reload their MetroCards at their home stations. In 2016, former Staten Island City Councilman and Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo when referring to a SIR station without a MetroCard machine told Spectrum News NY1, “To not put a metro card vending machine in that station is an insult to Staten Island riders.” 

                      Former MTA spokeswoman Amanda Kwan told the Staten Island Advance back in 2015 that the MTA was not installing the new machines on the SIR as the MTA had plans at the time to phase out the MetroCard in 2020. She also said that the agency recognized “‘that there are many areas on Staten Island where customers depend on the bus system as their primary means of transportation’” before going on to say that Staten Islanders could purchase MetroCards at retailers near them. While it is true that more Staten Islanders ride buses than trains and that there are a plethora of both MetroCard and OMNY retailers on the Island, the need to purchase a MetroCard at a retailer versus a station is less convenient for many because not only do train riders need to make an extra stop on their commutes, but purchasing or reloading a MetroCard at a retailer usually requires needing to make a transaction with a cashier, which takes more time. It is highly likely that customers would benefit from an OMNY machine being located in every SIR station just how how it is in the other 472 NYC subway stations across the other four boroughs.  Whether or not the MTA has plans to bring OMNY vending machines to SIR stations and how many stations the machines would be located at remains to be seen. 

                        As for the use of the OMNY Machines themselves, the only downside is that the MTA has put on its website that the fee for a new OMNY Card at the machines is $1 for now as 

a “temporary introductory offer.” Therefore, it does seem like the fee will eventually go back up to the $5 we’ve seen for OMNY Cards at retail establishments for the past two years. While it is unclear exactly why the surcharge exists, it likely has to do with a technical issue as the agency is still exploring ways to return that money to customers in the form of transit value similarly to how Chicago has since it adopted a similar system in 2013. Even though, the $5 fee may be an inconvenience to riders among its likely return, it is worth noting that OMNY Cards last for five years unlike MetroCards which expire after 18 months. This along with the fact that they have a more solid feel similar to other cards versuses how flimsy the MetroCard is, make sthe OMNY Card much easier to hold onto for value and a lot harder to lose or misplace. 

                        As for the city’s public school students who rely on the MTA’s Student MetroCards to get to school, these youth generally have their MetroCards distributed to them through their school. As a result, they will likely not receive OMNY Cards through the OMNY vending machines. However, the MTA does plan to distribute Student OMNY cards next school year pending “software development and testing” according to the Staten Island Advance.

                         As the OMNY era kicks into high gear, there will be a day next year where paying the fare on the subway will undoubtedly feel different with the lack of a MetroCard slot on the turnstile for the first time in almost 30 years leaving a noticeable void. While more than 73% of subway riders are using OMNY, the MetroCard has just been such a quintessential part of life in New York for so long that many straphangers will be sad it go. However, with the moves the MTA is making, there is strong hope that OMNY can lead to a more dynamic, convenient and equitable fare system for all New Yorkers to tap and ride. 

Works Cited 

“OMNY: NEW YORK’S NEW FARE PAYMENT SYSTEM.” New York Transit Museum, https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/program/omnynewfarepaymentsystem/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Say hello to tap and go, with OMNY.” MTA, https://new.mta.info/fares/omny. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Leaden, Claire. “MetroCards Will Be Officially Phased Out By 2024, Replaced By OMNY.” Secret NYC, 17 February 2023, https://secretnyc.co/metrocards-phased-out-omny/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “MTA Announces First OMNY Card Vending Machines Available for Customers.” MTA, 30 October 2023, https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-announces-first-omny-card-vending-machines-available-customers. Accessed 15 November 2023.

New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. “Where Are the Unbanked in NYC? Updated Findings (2019 Data).” NYC.gov, July 2021, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/partners/Research-UnbankedNYC-2019Data.pdf. Accessed 15 November 2023.

New York City Department of City Planning. Tableau, 24 November 2022, https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcptransportation/viz/ACSProfiles/Dashboard1. Accessed 15 November 2023.

“Register for an OMNY account.” OMNY, https://omny.info/register. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Bascome, Erik. “2022-2023 NYC school year: Student MetroCards return; OMNY cards planned for next year.” SILive.com, 4 September 2022, https://www.silive.com/education/2022/09/2022-2023-nyc-school-year-student-metrocards-return-omny-cards-planned-for-next-year.html. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Barone, Vincent. “Here’s where you can buy MetroCards on Staten Island.” SILive.com, 18 September 2015, https://www.silive.com/news/2015/09/heres_where_you_can_buy_metroc.html. Accessed 15 November 2023.

State Senator Diane J. Savino. “Staten Island Railway Rider Report.” The New York State Senate, 2013, https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/articles/attachments/Savino%20Staten%20Island%20Railway%20Report.pdf. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Tieu, Van. “MTA Denies Councilman’s Request for More MetroCard Vending Machines.” Spectrum News, 1 June 2016, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2016/06/1/mta-denies-councilman-s-request-for-more-metrocard-vending-machines. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Kwan, Amanda. “Amanda Kwan 關雯慧 (@AmandaKwan).” X.com, https://twitter.com/AmandaKwan. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Barone, Vincent. “Here’s where you can buy MetroCards on Staten Island.” SILive.com, 18 September 2015, https://www.silive.com/news/2015/09/heres_where_you_can_buy_metroc.html. Accessed 15 November 2023.

Guse, Clayton. “New OMNY fare cards carry $5 surcharge.” New York Daily News, 4 October 2021, https://www.nydailynews.com/2021/10/04/mtas-new-omny-card-comes-with-non-refundable-5-surcharge/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

“Featured Questions.” Ventra, 2013, https://www.ventrachicago.com/featured-questions/. Accessed 15 November 2023.

“Governor Hochul Announces New York City Subway Hit One Billion Rides This Year.” Governor Kathy Hochul, 14 November 2023, https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-new-york-city-subway-hit-one-billion-rides-year. Accessed 15 November 2023.