
Metropolitan Transit Authority
(New York, NY) — The MTA is phasing out the MetroCard. The agency says the card that’s been around since 1994 will no longer be sold by the end of the year.
They’re switching out the swipe card for the tap-and-go OMNY system that was first introduced in 2019.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber told Crain’s New York Business about the plan to take MetroCards out of circulation roughly a year earlier than its original 2027 deadline. Officials say commuters will still be able to swipe whatever funds are left on their MetroCards until sometime in 2027.
The OMNY system can be accessed through an app on your smartphone, or by tapping any major credit card with a chip implanted in it.
The system isn’t perfect though; According to a survey by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A., a consumer advocacy group, significant number of riders report that OMNY readers don’t always register their taps, requiring them to tap multiple times. Some riders are seeing charges appear on their accounts hours or even days after their trips, and some report being charged multiple times for the same ride. Riders have also reported long wait times for customer service and difficulty getting issues resolved