60 more subway stations will get MTA’s tap-to-pay system this month

By the close of 2019, the MTA had installed its OMNY tap-to-pay fare system at 64 subway stations across Manhattan and Brooklyn and all Staten Island busses. Some of the busiest spots that already have the contactless payment system include all 16 stations on the 4, 5, and 6 lines between Grand Central-42nd Street and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center, as well as Penn Station-34th Street. According to a new press release, OMNY will now expand to 60 more stations by the end of January–including Herald Square, Bryant Park, World Trade Center, and Jay Street-MetroTech–bringing the total to 124 stations.

The MTA rolled out OMNY (One Metro New York) in May of last year and then expanded the system at the end of the year. As of early November, OMNY had surpassed three million taps; according to yesterday’s press release, that number has now grown to more than five million. As 6sqft previously explained:

OMNY’s e-readers accept contactless credit, debit, or reloadable prepaid cards, as well as digital wallet apps on mobile phones and wearables and Google Pay. The larger $574 million plan is for all 472 subways stations and all MTA bus routes to have OMNY by the end of next year, with new subway stations being added each month. During this transition time, free transfers are only available between OMNY-equipped stations; riders will need to use their MetroCards at other locations (MetroCards will be accepted through 2023).

Once the full system is in place by the end of this year, the MTA will then add diversified options such as weekly and monthly passes and reduced and student fares. Beginning in 2021, contactless transit cards will be sold at retail stores, and in 2022, at 2,000 vending machines in transit stations. And fear not, your MetroCard will still work until 2023, 30 years after it was first introduced and 20 years after it officially replaced the subway token. Cash payments will always be an option.

The subway map with all OMNY-enabled stations by the end of January 2020, courtesy of MTA/Flickr

Here is the list of new stations:

• The B, D lines from 145 St to West 4th Street-Washington Square
• The F,M lines between 47th-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center and West 4th Street-Washington Square
• A, C stations from Inwood-207th Street on the A line and 168th Street on the C line, down 8th Avenue in Manhattan to Jay Street-MetroTech in Brooklyn
• The E line from 50th Street to the end of the line at World Trade Center

The stations at Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, and Herald Square will go live next week. The map above shows all the stations that will be OMNY-enabled by the end of January.

RELATED:

• 48 more subway stations, including Penn Station, will get the MTA’s tap-to-pay system next month
• MTA board approves $51.5B capital plan, largest in the agency’s history
• The history of the New York City MetroCard