New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is to add support for “all remaining fare options, including unlimited ride passes, reduced fares, student fares, and more” to its Omny contactless payments service from next year.

Omny has been used to pay for more than 5m journeys since its launch in May 2019 — but only full-fare, pay-per-ride tickets are currently supported.

The new fare options will be added once all subway stations and bus routes have been equipped with the new technology at the end of this year, the MTA says.

The service is due to go live at 60 additional subway stations by the end of this month, bringing the total to close to 150.

The full rollout to all 472 subway stations and all MTA bus services is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020.

Omny will then begin to support existing MetroCard affiliates, including Path and AirTrain, in 2021 and 2022.

“Only after the Omny project is fully complete in 2023 will the MTA say goodbye to the MetroCard,” the MTA says. “Paying with cash will always be an option.”

“With this next rollout, a critical mass of the riding public will be able to use Omny — with many being able to tap in on both ends of their trip,” says Al Putre, the MTA’s Omny programme executive.

“I can’t wait for all New Yorkers to be able to tap and go by the end of the year.”

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