The Metropolitan Transit Authority will cease promoting and refilling these formerly-ubiquitous MetroCards by the top of the 12 months in favor of the OMNY system, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber informed Crain’s New York Enterprise Wednesday.
MetroCards have been round since 1994, however now appear destined to go the way in which of the subway token, which stopped being utilized in 2003.
MTA officers beforehand mentioned they deliberate to say goodbye to MetroCards in 2027, however now have offered an estimated date when they are going to cease promoting and filling the playing cards, and that is on the finish of 2025.
OMNY’s standard tap-and-go system has been round since 2019 and the service contains the flexibility to faucet your telephone to pay to buy an OMNY faucet card that passengers can purchase and reload. Presently, OMNY is utilized by about 70% of bus and subway riders, the MTA mentioned.
MetroCards have turn out to be one thing of a collector’s merchandise, with greater than 400 particular editions issued by the MTA.
Commuters will nonetheless be capable of use their current MetroCards with no matter funds they’ve on them for no less than six months after the playing cards cease being bought, Lieber mentioned. The earliest the MTA system could be totally on OMNY could be late June 2026, however a remaining date has not been introduced.
The MTA mentioned that these nonetheless with MetroCards with worth on them can commerce the playing cards in for an OMNY card, or add the worth to a digital OMNY account.
