Contactless Payment System Now Available at More Than Half of All Subway Stations; OMNY Coming to All Manhattan SBS Buses Next Month; Other Bus and Subway Installations Being Accelerated 

Click Here for a Map of OMNY Stations Active in June

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced today that the installation of the OMNY new fare payment system remains on schedule to be completed by the end of the year at all subway stations and on all MTA-operated buses. The news, announced at a Queensboro Plaza event earlier today, comes despite a more than six-week work stoppage due to COVID-19-related mandates that non-essential projects in subway stations be temporarily put on hold.

Additionally, officials announced today subway and bus installations are being accelerated beyond the original schedule, with all Manhattan SBS buses being activated with OMNY next month and nine additional subway stations activated today, ahead of schedule. More than half of all subway stations are now equipped with OMNY, with 2,480 OMNY readers systemwide. The timeline for installation of OMNY hardware for all-door boarding has also been expedited, with all buses set to be equipped with OMNY readers by the end of the year as well.
 

"Not even a pandemic will prevent us from completing this project on time and on budget," said OMNY Program Executive Al Putre. "I work with the greatest team I've ever been a part of in more than three decades of service at the MTA and I'm confident we'll reach our goals despite the historic pandemic that forced us to shut down work for 43 days beginning in March. We've spent that time strategizing about how we can still get this done in a post-COVID-19 work environment, and have accelerated many aspects of the schedule. Our recently redeployed crews, using revised work protocols with requisite PPE, have been fantastic thus far."
 

Today's activation of OMNY readers at the Queensboro Plaza and Hunters Point Av stations in Queens marks the completion of the  line and surpasses the halfway point in the MTA's effort to activate OMNY at all 472 subway stations in the system. OMNY installation work began just over a year ago when the MTA launched the historic new contactless payment system at 16 stations in a public pilot that lasted approximately six months. Work ramped up in November, with hundreds more stations becoming OMNY equipped in the last six months. 
 

The June OMNY installation schedule has been accelerated, with nine stations activated this morning:

- Hunters Point Av 

- Queensboro Plaza   

- Howard Beach-JFK Airport 

- Park Place 

- Botanic Garden 

- Franklin Av  

- Franklin Av      

- Prospect Park  

- York Street 

 

OMNY will also be activated at a dozen other stations this month, mostly in Queens:

- Court Sq  

- Court Sq-23 St  

- Astoria-Ditmars Blvd  

- Astoria Blvd  

- 30 Av  

- Broadway  

- 36 Av  

- 39 Av  

- 5 Av-59 St   

- 57 St-7 Av    

- 49 St   

- 28 St  

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 always be an option. Additional info about OMNY is available at OMNY.info.