Thursday’s Headlines: Bye Bye, MetroCard Edition

Welcome to the OMNYverse.

The MTA will stop selling MetroCards by the end of this year — sunsetting the 32-year-old fare card more than six years after introducing the OMNY contactless tap-to-pay system, Chairman Janno Lieber revealed on Wednesday.

OMNY machines will be available at every subway station by the fall, the MTA said, though most OMNY users pay their fares with credit cards or cell phones.

It’s been a long, winding road for OMNY, which transit leaders once promised to usher in a “single, seamless superior customer experience.” The MTA’s contract for the new fare payment system went way over budget after its contractor Cubic changed ownership and the project experience Covid-related delays. Cost overruns stemmed from contract changes by both Cubic and the MTA.

Along the way, Cubic also lost its contract for fare payment modernization on the LIRR and Metro-North, though riders will be able to access commuter rail tickets through the same online portal as OMNY.

OMNY uptick has been slow-going, but 85 percent of “full fare” riders currently pay their fare through the system. For reduced-fare riders, that number is just 55 percent; student and senior discounts only became available in the last year. Overall OMNY accounts for 65 percent of subway and bus trips.

There are no monthly or weekly OMNY fares — instead riders who take 12 trips in a single week get the rest of their rides for free, a system that avoids the $40 million of unused MetroCard fares riders spend each year, the MTA said.

While New Yorkers won’t be able to buy MetroCards come 2026, they’ll still be able to use them to swipe into the system — at least for the time being. The MTA will announce later when it plans to stop accepting the cards entirely.

Transit advocates once hoped OMNY would bring about all-door boarding on city buses — a key tool for speeding up service by reducing the time buses spend loading and unloading passengers. The MTA has so far declined to implement the policy, citing high bus fare evasion rates.

In other news:

• Janno Lieber and the MTA are more than happy to share subway crime data with the feds — since it’s already publicly available, they said on Wednesday. (Gothamist, Daily News)
• Transit advocates rightly note that the Trump administration’s supposed concerns about subway crime are a political stunt. (The City)
• Talk about political stunts — did you see U.S. DOT Secretary Duffy’s fact-averse propaganda video? Trigger warning:

• Speaking of the subway, the MTA, which is being buffeted on all sides, is warning about another “Summer of Hell” if the city doesn’t provide its share of funding. (NY Post)
• Amtrak’s well-regarded CEO resigned on Wednesday amid scrutiny and funding threats from Trump, Musk and the Republicans. (Reuters, Bloomberg)
• An NYPD transit boss allegedly ordered his cops to undercount crimes that occurred on his watch. (NY Post)
• The MTA is replacing some subway station benches with “leaning bars.” (NY Post)
• Queens Borough President Donovan Richards wants better greenways. (Eastern Queens Greenway)
• Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg got long prison terms for two drivers involved in a 2023 hit-and-run that killed Jose Quintana. (Bragg statement)
• Cycling geek news: Bike racing legend Jens Voight will ride in the Five Borough Bike Tour on May 4. (Harlem World)
• We would be remiss if we didn’t update you on our recent story about a new push to get mayoral aspirants to pledge to finish the safety redesign on McGuinness Boulevard. Since our first story (about Brad Lander), candidate Zohran Mamdani has also signed, with more expected. Here’s a picture of Mamdani putting his John Hancock on the pledge: