The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has completed the rollout of its Omny contactless fare payment system across the whole of the city, enabling passengers to pay for their tickets with their contactless bank card or mobile wallet at all 472 subway stations and on 5,800 buses across the city.

Passengers will also be able to purchase a physical Omny contactless fare card at retail stores from later this year, with card vending machines due to be introduced at stations “eventually”, the MTA says.

In addition, the transportation authority plans to expand the fare options available to Omny users during 2021 “with the introduction of reduced fares for senior customers and riders with disabilities and the integration with paratransit services”.

“Since Omny was launched at a limited number of stations in late May of 2019, more than 35m taps have been recorded with bank cards issued in 137 countries including the US and 2.4m unique payment credentials have been used in the Omny system to date,” the MTA adds. 

“Omny currently accounts for over 10% of all taps in the system. A year ago, that figure was at over 4% and is expected to grow considerably over the next year.”

The MTA completed its rollout of the Omny system in Manhattan in September 2020.

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