What to Know
- Starting May 31, OMNY will make its way to New York City commuters. However, MTA employees can start using the system Wednesday
- OMNY is the tap-and-go system modeled after the contactless entry system in London
- Next month’s pilot program will impact 16 stations from Grand Central to Barclays Center on the 4/5 and 6 trains.
Sixteen years after the last token dropped into the slot, it’s the MetroCard’s turn to bid farewell.
Starting May 31, OMNY will make its way to New York City commuters. However, MTA employees can start using the system Wednesday.
OMNY is the tap-and-go system modeled after the contactless entry system in London.
Next month’s pilot program will impact 16 stations from Grand Central to Barclays Center on the 4/5 and 6 trains.
Some commuters are looking forward, to what they think will be an easier mode of payment.
“I’ll do it,” commuter Raul Gabriel says. “You can just go and get on the train easier.”
The MTA demonstrated the scanners - called validators - outside the board meeting Wednesday. Those validators will read a credit card. A debit card, or a smartphone.
Wayne Lydon, of the MTA, said commuters will simply have to go up to a validator and simply tap their card. A “beep” will let them know their card was read.
“I’m excited about this. It’s a big advance for the riding public,” MTA Vice Chairman Fernando Ferrer said.
Local
The pilot program is designed to get the bugs out, which some employees have already experienced.
The MTA says the biggest upside will be ridding commuters of the experience of having MetroCards that simply fail to swipe them through the turntables.
“The beauty part of this system is no longer waiting in line go to a station agent,” Alan Putre, MTA fare payment executive, said. “They bring their own convenient method. You tap, you go, you ride. What could be more convenient?”
