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OMNY, The MTA's Fare Tapping System, Gets More Than 1 Million Rides
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 14, 2019
Modified Aug 14, 2019
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 14, 2019
Modified Aug 14, 2019
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Amidst gloomy news about its finances, the MTA has at least one bright spot: Its newly launched tap-payment system, OMNY, has recorded over one million rides.
The one-millionth OMNY payment was tapped at the Fulton Center at 9:05 p.m. on August 8th, according the MTA, which says the milestone was reached "at a much higher usage rate than initially estimated." In a statement, MTA CEO Patrick Foye said, "When we launched OMNY a mere 10 weeks ago today, we knew that some New Yorkers would immediately begin paying their fare with a tap. But even our most optimistic forecasts didn’t anticipate how popular OMNY would become in such a short time. OMNY is an essential part of the modernization of the MTA and its success shows that with the right attention and resources, we can do big things to move our system forward."
During this pilot phase, subway riders along the 4, 5, and 6 lines between Grand Central and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and all bus riders on Staten Island can use OMNY—which stands for One Metro New York—by using a contactless credit card (there's a WiFi symbol on the card) or by using a credit or debit card connected to a smartphone. More subway stations and bus lines will be getting OMNY readers this year and next year. By the end of 2020, all subway stations and bus routes should have it. Ultimately, riders will be able to buy OMNY cards, which can be paid for in cash, in 2021, and the flimsy yellow MetroCards will be phased out in 2023.
Contactless payment has been cited as one of the ways more customers entered the subway and bus system more quickly, without worrying about failed MetroCard swipes.
While the MTA and its OMNY partner, Cubic Transportation Systems, have emphasized that customers' data will be protected, some advocates remain concerned, citing the lack of open design and other features on the scanners.
The MTA offered some other statistics: 80 percent of the customers are using OMNY through digital wallets on their smartphones (the industry average for digital wallet usage is 15 percent); and "customers from 93 countries outside of the U.S. have paid their fares using OMNY, with 62 percent percent of those customers coming from Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Germany and France."
One notable part of this pilot is that all subway and bus payments via OMNY are not discounted—there's no senior or student discount, "unlimited" weekly/month option, or pre-tax benefit offerings at present.
Tagged
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contactless payment
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we the commuters
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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