Enjineer Posted February 23, 2019 Share #1 Posted February 23, 2019 https://nypost.com/2019/02/22/mta-to-begin-pilot-for-metrocard-replacement-next-week/amp/ Quote The MTA’s new fare payment system will be called OMNY – short for One Metro New York – and agency employees will test out the new contactless cards starting next week, according to a memo sent to workers. The pilot program being offered to MTA workers is the first major step toward the agency’s move to its new fare system – which they expect will replace the MetroCard within a few years. “A tremendous amount of planning has gone into building the new system…and I want to thank the many departments and teams who have already shared their time and support,” MTA President Pat Foye wrote in the letter. The agency has installed the readers for the new system at 16 stations along the 4,5, and 6 lines between Grand Central Station and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center. Riders will be able to use a smart device like a phone or tablet or a credit, debit or pre-paid card. Non-MTA employees will be able to use the new technology at those stations starting in May. The MetroCard won’t be phased out until 2023, said MTA officials. So, the MetroCard's replacement will be called OMNY. What do you guys think? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTA1992 Posted February 23, 2019 Share #2 Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) Let it be known that I adore this name. Stylish and simple. Add in the function to use it for other regional systems and store purchases and they could really make some bank off this brand. Edited February 23, 2019 by LTA1992 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 23, 2019 Share #3 Posted February 23, 2019 @Around the Horn Already made a thread on this above btw. But to summarize what I said on that thread, yeah, very excited to see it happen even as I remain concerned over how fare beating continues to plague the system rapidly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enjineer Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted February 23, 2019 16 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said: Already made a thread on this above btw. Yeah, I saw that just after I made it. Realized it a little too late 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enjineer Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted February 23, 2019 26 minutes ago, LTA1992 said: Stylish and simple. I like it too. Rolls off the tongue nice and smooth, and it definitely has the potential to become as well known as the MetroCard was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 23, 2019 Share #6 Posted February 23, 2019 I have to agree with both of you as well, OMNY is a pretty simple and fitting name for the new payment method in place. I also love that new logo as well, with an almost concentric look to it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted February 23, 2019 Share #7 Posted February 23, 2019 While the name itself of the new fare payment system is pretty cool, I think they could've done without it being an actual acronym... "One Metro New York" sounds like the name of a building. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTA1992 Posted February 23, 2019 Share #8 Posted February 23, 2019 5 hours ago, B35 via Church said: While the name itself of the new fare payment system is pretty cool, I think they could've done without it being an actual acronym... "One Metro New York" sounds like the name of a building. I mean, it wouldn't exactly be wrong lol 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallyhorse Posted February 23, 2019 Share #9 Posted February 23, 2019 Whatever system is used, I'd be pushing to make it where it and SEPTA's (Philadelphia) KEY card system are compatible with each other and can be used on both systems. There are a good number of people who regularly go between New York and Philly and having such be able to work on both systems would be beneficial to both. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 23, 2019 Share #10 Posted February 23, 2019 Well @Wallyhorse, technically the SEPTA Key can used as a debit card (Mastercard) if you load money onto it. I don't see why that might not be a possibility as of now considering OMNY accepts debit cards as a form of fare payment, Mastercard hopefully. Whether that will remain a good option considering the going rates on the Key card, remains to be seen. Totally support that idea however... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Around the Horn Posted February 23, 2019 Share #11 Posted February 23, 2019 18 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said: Whatever system is used, I'd be pushing to make it where it and SEPTA's (Philadelphia) KEY card system are compatible with each other and can be used on both systems. There are a good number of people who regularly go between New York and Philly and having such be able to work on both systems would be beneficial to both. Please for the love of god, no. Conduent's system for SEPTA is an absolute disaster and I don't want OMNY getting effected by that crap. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enjineer Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted February 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said: OMNY accepts debit cards as a form of fare payment, Mastercard hopefully. AFAIK, OMNY will be a Gen 3 farecard system. Only SEPTA and the CTA have them right now, with other systems in Asia and Africa having Gen 3 systems. Most tap systems are Gen 2 (Like the Oyster Card and Charlie Card), so it'll be interesting as OMNY will be very much similar to SEPTA's. Hopefully it won't go as crappily as in Philly though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 23, 2019 Share #13 Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) 26 minutes ago, Around the Horn said: Please for the love of god, no. Conduent's system for SEPTA is an absolute disaster and I don't want OMNY getting effected by that crap. Yeah, that was by FAR my biggest concern with SEPTA's system; even if it technically could work with OMNY, It definitely wont be cheap or easy. 21 minutes ago, Enjineer said: AFAIK, OMNY will be a Gen 3 farecard system. Only SEPTA and the CTA have them right now, with other systems in Asia and Africa having Gen 3 systems. Most tap systems are Gen 2 (Like the Oyster Card and Charlie Card), so it'll be interesting as OMNY will be very much similar to SEPTA's. Hopefully it won't go as crappily as in Philly though! I doubt New York will screw this up, with good technology and lot's of prior mistakes made by other payment systems around the world. It certainly could turn out to be very good at launch. Edited February 23, 2019 by NoHacksJustKhaks apparently I can't type properly today lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Around the Horn Posted February 23, 2019 Share #14 Posted February 23, 2019 Like Conduent can't even get parts of the Key contract implemented properly and now you want them to make it compatible with a newer system by a completely different company? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sovetskii52 Posted February 23, 2019 Share #15 Posted February 23, 2019 I am very excited about this because I hate the current Metrocards. I ALWAYS have trouble swiping. It keeps telling me to swipe again. I swipe slower, faster, smoother, etc. Ugh. And this happens with different Metrocards and at different stations. There have also been five instances when I was supposed to get a free transfer but it took a second fare off my card. And back when I used unlimited Metrocards I sometimes faced the "Just Used" message even though the turnstile never let me through. I really hope this new card will solve the problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallyhorse Posted February 24, 2019 Share #16 Posted February 24, 2019 4 hours ago, Around the Horn said: Like Conduent can't even get parts of the Key contract implemented properly and now you want them to make it compatible with a newer system by a completely different company? There are a lot of people, especially those who go to the Big 5 schools (plus Drexel) in particular in Philly who would want this as many of them regularly go up to New York for a variety of reasons for example. There are also those who live in Philly but work in NYC because of the high rents in NYC who would benefit by being able to use it on both systems. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enjineer Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share #17 Posted February 24, 2019 7 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said: There are also those who live in Philly but work in NYC because of the high rents in NYC who would benefit by being able to use it on both systems. I don't think that's any sort of significant population. Bending over backwards to support another city's farecard isn't a great idea. At least for the rollout of OMNY, it'd be much better for the MTA to perfect their own farecard system before looking to partner with others'. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 24, 2019 Share #18 Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said: There are a lot of people, especially those who go to the Big 5 schools (plus Drexel) in particular in Philly who would want this as many of them regularly go up to New York for a variety of reasons for example. There are also those who live in Philly but work in NYC because of the high rents in NYC who would benefit by being able to use it on both systems. Totally valid points and I may support that (to an extent). However, @Around the Horn was (on an orthogonal note) stating the potential problems lying under connecting OMNY with SEPTA's problems they haven't fixed yet. More of a logistical problem than a ethical concern in this case. Edited February 24, 2019 by NoHacksJustKhaks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHacksJustKhaks Posted February 24, 2019 Share #19 Posted February 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, Enjineer said: it'd be much better for the MTA to perfect their own farecard system before looking to partner with others'. Definitely, and not even that, same goes true for other systems that the looks to partner with. It would be harder to justify partnering with if the KEY system is broken, flawed (which it is). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted February 24, 2019 Share #20 Posted February 24, 2019 Forgive me for my lack of excitement lol. About a decade ago, I remember them installing tap and go readers in the same stations on the Lex line! This tech has been aroubd for years, should've been installed widely years ago 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enjineer Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share #21 Posted February 24, 2019 1 minute ago, QM1to6Ave said: About a decade ago, I remember them installing tap and go readers in the same stations on the Lex line! IIRC those were RFID readers, for a trial program which used credit cards. This is NFC, which both new cards as well as phones can use for payment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahC99 Posted February 24, 2019 Share #22 Posted February 24, 2019 4 hours ago, sovetskii52 said: I am very excited about this because I hate the current Metrocards. I ALWAYS have trouble swiping. It keeps telling me to swipe again. I swipe slower, faster, smoother, etc. Ugh. And this happens with different Metrocards and at different stations. There have also been five instances when I was supposed to get a free transfer but it took a second fare off my card. And back when I used unlimited Metrocards I sometimes faced the "Just Used" message even though the turnstile never let me through. I really hope this new card will solve the problem. I suffer those same problems as well with both a student metrocard back in High School and my current CUNY ASAP MetroCard. In fact, just last year, I went to an open house for the project in East Williamsburg (this was before Cuomo changed the plans), and heading home, I walked to the Montrose Avenue station, and when I tried to swipe in, it said Just Used, even though I was at the open house for two hours. I eventually had to go to the station agent and request for her to open the exit door to get on the train. The card eventually worked on the connecting B82 bus. If the tap technology were implemented back then, I wouldn’t be in that situation. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Around the Horn Posted February 24, 2019 Share #23 Posted February 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Wallyhorse said: There are a lot of people, especially those who go to the Big 5 schools (plus Drexel) in particular in Philly who would want this as many of them regularly go up to New York for a variety of reasons for example. There are also those who live in Philly but work in NYC because of the high rents in NYC who would benefit by being able to use it on both systems. I get what you're saying but I don't trust the SEPTA Key vendor to implement this properly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted February 24, 2019 Share #24 Posted February 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Enjineer said: IIRC those were RFID readers, for a trial program which used credit cards. This is NFC, which both new cards as well as phones can use for payment. Correct. But they could have implemented that more widely, opening the door to this newer version more easily by working out kinks, getting people used to it, etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted February 24, 2019 Share #25 Posted February 24, 2019 1 hour ago, JeremiahC99 said: I suffer those same problems as well with both a student metrocard back in High School and my current CUNY ASAP MetroCard. In fact, just last year, I went to an open house for the project in East Williamsburg (this was before Cuomo changed the plans), and heading home, I walked to the Montrose Avenue station, and when I tried to swipe in, it said Just Used, even though I was at the open house for two hours. I eventually had to go to the station agent and request for her to open the exit door to get on the train. The card eventually worked on the connecting B82 bus. If the tap technology were implemented back then, I wouldn’t be in that situation. I don't know that this tech will fix those problems. Underlying software or hardware glitches always exist. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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