OMNY Implementation/Metro-Card Retirement Discussion Thread

[7-express]

There was definitely a lot less news in this update than I was hoping for.  Curious how they made no mention of launches for physical reduced-fare OMNY cards and student OMNY cards, which seem pretty important if they ever want to get rid of the MetroCard for good.  Also not sure what they plan to do for special access cards like employee passes or first responder cards.

They did note that quality issues are continuing to consume resources.  Anecdotally, I've had the OMNY card mess up every day this week on the express bus, resulting in a free ride for me.  I really do how much money they're losing from all of these issues.

[RestrictOnTheHanger]

The only items of note were pilot OMNY vending machines coming some time in Q2 and a B2B portal, which would enable pretax and other outside sale uses. 

[ABOGbrooklyn]

9 hours ago, 7-express said:

There was definitely a lot less news in this update than I was hoping for.  Curious how they made no mention of launches for physical reduced-fare OMNY cards and student OMNY cards, which seem pretty important if they ever want to get rid of the MetroCard for good.  Also not sure what they plan to do for special access cards like employee passes or first responder cards.

They did note that quality issues are continuing to consume resources.  Anecdotally, I've had the OMNY card mess up every day this week on the express bus, resulting in a free ride for me.  I really do how much money they're losing from all of these issues.

I don't understand what's going on..  how are they experiencing issues? Is it cubits fault? Still no access a ride OMNY either..

[mikecintel]

9 hours ago, 7-express said:

There was definitely a lot less news in this update than I was hoping for.  Curious how they made no mention of launches for physical reduced-fare OMNY cards and student OMNY cards, which seem pretty important if they ever want to get rid of the MetroCard for good.  Also not sure what they plan to do for special access cards like employee passes or first responder cards.

They did note that quality issues are continuing to consume resources.  Anecdotally, I've had the OMNY card mess up every day this week on the express bus, resulting in a free ride for me.  I really do how much money they're losing from all of these issues.

Yes there was a lot less news I was shocked too.  I was expecting when they will say the Physical reduced fare and student OMNY cards will deploy.  Since I didn't find it here I called the OMNY Customer Service Call Center and they said for the reduce fare it will be BEFORE the end of 2023 so that means it will be in 2023 but they don't have a date yet and they don't know. As for the students maybe it will before the September school year starts or it can be "delayed" again as you know numerous of times it has been delayed with OMNY.  I haven't purchased an OMNY card since I lost my 2nd one so I am going to stick to the good old "Metro Card" until the vending machines are deployed or wait until the Metro Card are no longer used.  They said the completion by Oct 2024 so it would be one more year to go.  I had to get a exchange for NEW Metro Card (Old Metro Card exchange for New Metro Card via metro card machine didn't have to give $1 for a new one) and the expiration date said DEC 31,2024.  So what that tells me that it "should" be complete by 2024 for the latest unless I exchange another Metro Card and the expiration goes too 2025.  If it keeps on 2024 that means that would be the year that ends the Metro card.

[7-express]

The OMNY vending machines were showed off today: https://nypost.com/2023/04/24/subway-vending-machines-for-omny-system-arrive-this-summer/

Edit: Also OMNY is coming to the AirTrain and Roosevelt Island Tram in November.  They also seem to be still having issues with reduced/free fare physical media but maybe that will be resolved soon.

Edited April 25, 2023 by 7-express

[RestrictOnTheHanger]

Supposedly rolling 7 day capping coming later

 

[mikecintel]

9 hours ago, 7-express said:

The OMNY vending machines were showed off today: https://nypost.com/2023/04/24/subway-vending-machines-for-omny-system-arrive-this-summer/

Edit: Also OMNY is coming to the AirTrain and Roosevelt Island Tram in November.  They also seem to be still having issues with reduced/free fare physical media but maybe that will be resolved soon.

Yes also it's on youtube the meeting

It talks about OMNY at 5:00 to 5:38.  So I am briefly here what they said:

No drop dead date - meaning no end date for the Metro Card but it expect to end in 2025 https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-nyc-omny-payment-system-late-20230424-46sgrkb6n5c75fng2ql3bhq4au-story.html  "Replacement of MetroCards with OMNY system won’t happen till 2025, MTA officials admit"

The OMNY budget is on time and there is no problems that what the C&D person said.
Summer OMNY machines are coming out in JUNE and will be completed by September 2023 https://gothamist.com/news/omny-vending-machines-coming-to-nyc-subway-this-summer  "The new machines will be installed at all 472 subway stations by September, giving riders an easy way to buy and reload OMNY fare cards, MTA officials said during a committee meeting. Currently, the tap-to-pay system can only be used by riders with smartphones, contactless credit cards or people who buy a physical OMNY card from a retail store."

"Floating version of OMNY 7 days" Any 7 days will work and will not be Fixed Monday to Sunday.  Will be "more fare actions" later meaning when state budget lock in.  I think what Lieber means there will be "more changes and adjustments made to the OMNY card maybe 30 days monthly cap".  Next update will be October 2023.

At least the color of the vending is silver and it does not have elementary school colors like the Metro card.

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by mikecintel

[Chris89292]

12 hours ago, mikecintel said:

Yes also it's on youtube the meeting

It talks about OMNY at 5:00 to 5:38.  So I am briefly here what they said:

No drop dead date - meaning no end date for the Metro Card but it expect to end in 2025 https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-nyc-omny-payment-system-late-20230424-46sgrkb6n5c75fng2ql3bhq4au-story.html  "Replacement of MetroCards with OMNY system won’t happen till 2025, MTA officials admit"

The OMNY budget is on time and there is no problems that what the C&D person said.
Summer OMNY machines are coming out in JUNE and will be completed by September 2023 https://gothamist.com/news/omny-vending-machines-coming-to-nyc-subway-this-summer  "The new machines will be installed at all 472 subway stations by September, giving riders an easy way to buy and reload OMNY fare cards, MTA officials said during a committee meeting. Currently, the tap-to-pay system can only be used by riders with smartphones, contactless credit cards or people who buy a physical OMNY card from a retail store."

"Floating version of OMNY 7 days" Any 7 days will work and will not be Fixed Monday to Sunday.  Will be "more fare actions" later meaning when state budget lock in.  I think what Lieber means there will be "more changes and adjustments made to the OMNY card maybe 30 days monthly cap".  Next update will be October 2023.

At least the color of the vending is silver and it does not have elementary school colors like the Metro card.

 

I thought the completion of OMNY vending machines will be in 2024

Edited April 26, 2023 by Chris89292

[mikecintel]

10 minutes ago, Chris89292 said:

I thought the completion of OMNY vending machines will be in 2024

Yes that was what they said last year in March 2022 if I remember correctly completion of OMNY vending machine in 2024.  Now the "pushed it back" until 2025 for "FULL Implementation" because of the LIRR-MNR OMNY machines.  I guess they need to "Complete the implementation for Subway, Bus, LIRR, and MNR" and then it will be all considered completed.  They said they are 50% complete with the OMNY project so that means 50% percent to go.  For the Bus-subway it should be finish installed by September of this year but then again who know because the MTA keeps delaying it.  At least they said the JFK and the Air train will get OMNY by November 2023 and also the Roosevelt Island Tram so I guess that is something better then nothing.  We have to wait until the next update which will be in October 2023 which will talk about OMNY again.  6 months to go....until another update.

Edited April 26, 2023 by mikecintel

[NewFlyer 230]

Still waiting for NICE bus to adopt OMNY so I can get rid of these metrocard.

This OMNY process is very slow. 

[7-express]

8 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

Still waiting for NICE bus to adopt OMNY so I can get rid of these metrocard.

This OMNY process is very slow. 

They mentioned legal and contractual issues with PANYNJ and Roosevelt Island as a barrier to overcome.  Probably not too different with NICE and Bee Line.  Hopefully they get ironed out soon.

Not holding my breath on physical student or reduced-fare OMNY cards till the very end of the year.

[mikecintel]

3 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

Still waiting for NICE bus to adopt OMNY so I can get rid of these metrocard.

This OMNY process is very slow. 

The last time I went to Long Island with my friend and I went on the NICE bus and I asked them when will they have OMNY and they said by the end of the year they will have it.  I even asked the Westchester BEE line and they said "By the Fall 2023 and they are not even sure but that is what they are told by the MTA"  Yes they are extremely slow because of glitches along the away and even a snail is a little faster then the MTA even a snail is slow as molasses.

[mikecintel]

34 minutes ago, 7-express said:

They mentioned legal and contractual issues with PANYNJ and Roosevelt Island as a barrier to overcome.  Probably not too different with NICE and Bee Line.  Hopefully they get ironed out soon.

Not holding my breath on physical student or reduced-fare OMNY cards till the very end of the year.

Yes I did asked the MTA and they said for the reduced-fare physical OMNY card it will be BEFORE the end of 2023.  The student OMNY I think will be in the same OR in the start of the school year or around September I think.

[7-express]

My parents received a new Reduced-Fare EasyPay MetroCard in the mail today.  The first part of the enclosed letter was heavy on switching to OMNY using a digital wallet or contactless credit card and the instructions how to do it.  The bottom of the letter indicated reduced-fare OMNYs would likely go out in late 2023.  It did say that this is likely the last EasyPay MetroCard they'll send out as the switch to OMNY continues with aspirations for everyone to be on it by 2024 (we'll see about that...)

[N6 Limited]

“Solution” to integrate OMNY?

LIRR considers physical barriers to combat $24M per year fare evasion

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/transportation/fare-evasion-lirr-gates-otsp6s4f

[Lawrence St]

17 minutes ago, N6 Limited said:

“Solution” to integrate OMNY?

LIRR considers physical barriers to combat $24M per year fare evasion

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/transportation/fare-evasion-lirr-gates-otsp6s4f

Ugh, paywall. Can you give us the rundown?

[mikecintel]

8 hours ago, 7-express said:

My parents received a new Reduced-Fare EasyPay MetroCard in the mail today.  The first part of the enclosed letter was heavy on switching to OMNY using a digital wallet or contactless credit card and the instructions how to do it.  The bottom of the letter indicated reduced-fare OMNYs would likely go out in late 2023.  It did say that this is likely the last EasyPay MetroCard they'll send out as the switch to OMNY continues with aspirations for everyone to be on it by 2024 (we'll see about that...)

My father has the same letter except that is for the regular reduce fare Metro Card.  I did ask OM?NY and they said "later" in 2023 but before the end of 2023 and they don't have a set date yet.

[N6 Limited]

So, I accidentally cracked my OMNY card and it completely stopped working. I had to buy a new card at the store for $6 ($5, plus $1 minimum balance)  then go to the OMNY site and select “Replace card” in my account. Replacement is pretty easy though, much easier than MetroCard. 

 

On 5/20/2023 at 1:02 PM, Lawrence St said:

Ugh, paywall. Can you give us the rundown?

Basically, they are thinking about ways to combat Fare Evasion, in general, across their services, one of them being barriers at “busy stations” for commuter railroads to prevent issues like not being able to punch tickets on crowded trains, delayed e-ticket activation on TrainTime, etc. 

—-

They sort of have this addressed with City/Combo/Atlantic tickets, since they have to be used on the same day. But with other tickets, someone can still get a free ride(s) if their ticket isn’t punched. Previously, it wasn’t a major concern because most riders during the Rush were monthly pass holders, but now with remote working the monthly pass riders have dropped.

[Lawrence St]

13 minutes ago, N6 Limited said:

So, I accidentally cracked my OMNY card and it completely stopped working. I had to buy a new card at the store for $6 ($5, plus $1 minimum balance)  then go to the OMNY site and select “Replace card” in my account. Replacement is pretty easy though, much easier than MetroCard. 

 

Basically, they are thinking about ways to combat Fare Evasion, in general, across their services, one of them being barriers at “busy stations” for commuter railroads to prevent issues like not being able to punch tickets on crowded trains, delayed e-ticket activation on TrainTime, etc. 

—-

They sort of have this addressed with City/Combo/Atlantic tickets, since they have to be used on the same day. But with other tickets, someone can still get a free ride(s) if their ticket isn’t punched. Previously, it wasn’t a major concern because most riders during the Rush were monthly pass holders, but now with remote working the monthly pass riders have dropped.

Explains why whenever I ride LIRR conductors are always telling people to activate tickets before they get on. I'm surprised there isn't a system in place where if a ticket is repeatedly not activated that they can no longer buy a mobile ticket or have to immediately activate it. 

[N6 Limited]

30 minutes ago, N6 Limited said:

So, I accidentally cracked my OMNY card and it completely stopped working. I had to buy a new card at the store for $6 ($5, plus $1 minimum balance)  then go to the OMNY site and select “Replace card” in my account. Replacement is pretty easy though, much easier than MetroCard. 

Upon further investigation, the circuitry runs around the perimeter of the card apparently, so if it cracks, it becomes a bookmark.

15 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Explains why whenever I ride LIRR conductors are always telling people to activate tickets before they get on. I'm surprised there isn't a system in place where if a ticket is repeatedly not activated that they can no longer buy a mobile ticket or have to immediately activate it. 

What if the person is  just checking the ticket to verify the zones it covers, for a future trip, etc?

[QM1to6Ave]

Any word on express bus unlimited pass getting programmed into OMNY? At this point, I'm going to probably change jobs and not need it anyway past the fall, so I'll switch to OMNY for PPR after that

[mikecintel]

On 5/27/2023 at 12:56 AM, QM1to6Ave said:

Any word on express bus unlimited pass getting programmed into OMNY? At this point, I'm going to probably change jobs and not need it anyway past the fall, so I'll switch to OMNY for PPR after that

Unfortunately no and there are MORE Delays.

[mikecintel]

I just read that there are MORE DELAYS for the OMNY system as we all know and it can be until 2026!.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/29/mtas-omny-645m-system-hit-with-software-bugs-costly-delays/

MTA’s $645M OMNY fare system hit with software bugs, missed deadlines, and high turnover: docs

A toxic stew of programming snafus, pivoting priorities and management turnover has derailed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $645M OMNY fare system, which is now years late and will cost another $130 million over budget, sources say and documents show.

As a result, the program’s promise of a single fare card linking the entire region together — allowing someone to buy a single ticket to go from Hoboken to Huntington, for example — has withered away amid the spiraling costs and delays.

 “The first time you use it, it’s a miracle,” said one frustrated source. “To watch it fall behind schedule, it’s depressing.” 

OMNY was originally supposed to cost $645 million but now has a $772 million price tag, which could grow more, officials acknowledged in April. Rollout on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North was supposed to begin in 2021 — but now could be delayed until 2025 or later.

Another source was similarly despondent: “Of all the technology projects, it was one of the best,” describing the downsized ambitions as a “civic tragedy.”

The program has seen at least three leadership changes in the last two years, according to interviews with a half-dozen people familiar with the project.

Just a dozen or so MTA staffers are dedicated full time to building and managing OMNY, the agency’s next generation fare system, contributing to turnover and burnout, the sources added.

For comparison, that’s roughly the same number of employees the LIRR has used to staff a single train.

The MTA’s initial ambition can be seen in internal documents that illustrate how it planned to incorporate the logos of its commuter railroads and the Port Authority’s trans-Hudson PATH link into OMNY.

Half of that dream is now dead: The PATH is building a new separate system — using the same contractor the MTA is using for OMNY, Cubic Corporation.

The other half is much-delayed. The MTA recently approved spending $34 million to keep the LIRR and Metro-North’s current ticketing system in operation until at least 2026 because it has yet to finalize its designs for bringing OMNY to the railroads.

OMNY could potentially revolutionize ticketing on the railroads by the MTA to potentially install fare gates at major terminals like Grand Central and Penn Station and installing tap points on trains and at outlying stations, like how the New York City buses work. Such setups are common in Europe and commuter railroads in Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey have begun to implement it, too.

The MTA’s blue ribbon fare-beating panel said the agency should examine fare gates as a longer-term strategy to reduce farebeating on the LIRR and Metro-North, which cost $44 million last year. However, switching over would likely face major union opposition as it would mean the hundreds of ticket takers employed by both railroads would either be retrained and reassigned, or made redundant.

A representative for the Metro-North unions referred OMNY-related questions to his counterparts at the LIRR unions, who did not respond to requests for comment.

MTA officials attempted to put a good face on the fiasco as they announced the latest overhaul of OMNY’s management in April.

“With OMNY, the MTA made a bold decision to leap ahead,” said MTA major project’s chief Jamie Torres-Springer, whose division will now directly oversee the fare system’s rollout.

It’s a shocking turn of fate for a program that initially got off to a roaring start.

The MTA and Cubic installed the tap receivers at every subway station and on every bus on time, before the end of 2020. Nowadays, the system processes more than 40 percent of the MTA’s bus and subway fares.

And officials have claimed a bit of momentum from their announcement that the MTA will this summer finally begin to install the long-awaited OMNY card dispensers after at least a year of delays.

But the MTA and Cubic have struggled to get the rest of the system up and running, sources say, because of the contractor’s glitchy computer code and the transit agency’s struggles to oversee the firm.

Take the OMNY app, which was once promised to launch by January 2021. In late 2022, officials said it likely wouldn’t premier until late 2023; in April, officials warned it could face more delays.

One key inflection point, sources told The Post, was a decision made in mid-2021 to add new capabilities to the already-complex and problem-plagued software that underlies OMNY.

Originally, the MTA planned to provide riders who qualified for reduced or free fares a dedicated card that had the discount programmed onto it directly — a simple solution that works a lot like the current MetroCard system, according to a 2019 memorandum.

The portion of the OMNY system that allows riders to directly tap-in for rides using with their cell phone, credit card or debit card would be reserved for those paying the full $2.75 to keep the computer system simple.

Officials feared attempting to build a system to match discounts to a straphanger’s device or bank card would become a programming nightmare, which could slow down development and would wait.

But, that decision was reversed amid leadership changes as OMNY’s original chief retired and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers dueled over who would replace exiting MTA chairman Pat Foye.

“It took a really difficult technical question from the back of the line to the front of the line and it really gummed up the works,” said a source.

The first mention of the shift was buried on page 77 of a 139-page of a routine report provided to the MTA Board of Directors in June 2021.

Subsequent updates showed the decision contributed to the myriad of delays problems the program faced.

In January 2022, the OMNY team reported Cubic would miss its original September 2021 deadline to provide the required programming by seven months due to ongoing problems with “quality control.”

Cubic and its programmers missed the April deadline, too. The software it delivered in May 2022 was riddled with bugs that took another five months to iron out, according to a report provided to the MTA board that October.

“They promised a product that they couldn’t deliver,” said another source. “When they did deliver, they were years late.”

In statements, both the MTA and Cubic argued the decision did not contribute to the OMNY’s tardiness and budget overruns because the software was always supposed to have the function eventually.

Similar programming problems have also contributed to the delays getting the JFK AirTrain and the Roosevelt Island Tram onto OMNY, two other high-profile frustrations with the system.

[mikecintel]

I lost 2 OMNY card already so I decided to switch back to Metro Card because they still have the 30 unlimited and I just read that more people still use Metro Card then OMNY doesn't have the 30 unlimited yet.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/cheaper-to-use-metrocards-compared-to-omny-by-170-analysis/

Straphangers save $170 annually by using MetroCard over OMNY: analysis

What a steal!

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is charging OMNY users nearly $200 more for a year’s worth of rides than straphangers who continue to use its old fashion MetroCard system — enough to pay for a year of Netflix without ads.

That’s because the agency still has yet to deliver a monthly pass or fare cap for the new OMNY fare system, meaning subway and bus riders still don’t qualify for the MTA’s best per-ride price, The Post’s analysis shows.

“We know that the MTA has signaled its intention to have a monthly fare capping product,” said Andrew Albert, who sits on the MTA board.

“But we need to get this out there sooner rather than later to get more people to switch over.”

Currently, the only discount the MTA provides via OMNY gives riders free unlimited rides after tapping into the subway or onto a bus 12 times in a week, starting on Monday and ending Sunday.

That totals out to $34 per week, or $1768 a year, under the MTA’s proposed fare hikes this week.

The MTA’s proposal would increase the cost of a monthly MetroCard to $132 — which tallies out to $1596 for twelve to cover the year.

That means riders using the fare system the MTA wants to retire would save $172 by sticking with their monthly MetroCard.

A subscription to Netflix’s ad-free standard tier costs $15.49 a month before taxes — which totals up to $186 annually.

Indeed, The Post’s analysis shows that the MTA’s current fare structure for OMNY means that straphangers would only get 47 weeks worth of rides for the annual cost of monthly MetroCards.

A New Yorker would have to skip the subway for five weeks to make up the difference between the monthly MetroCard and OMNY.

MTA officials have said for years they intend to provide a series of passes or fare caps for OMNY that would mirror the prices offered to straphangers via MetroCard.

However, the agency has only rolled out the weekly 12-ride cap so far.

OMNY has been bedeviled by years of delays due to glitches and bugs in the underlying computer system that powers the system.

Its price tag has jumped from $645 million to $772 million.

“The MTA should be doing everything possible to encourage people to switch to OMNY, including offering the full array of discounts,” said Danny Pearlstein, the top spokesman for the Riders Alliance.

“One reason riders still can’t board and pay at the back door of a bus — even though the readers are there — is that the MTA says too few riders are using OMNY,” Pearlstein added.

“Yet, the reason so many riders are sticking with MetroCard is because the MTA isn’t providing all the discounts.”

Pearlstein’s group and other major transit advocacy groups have been pushing hard for all-door boarding as one way the MTA could speed up service.

Experts estimate it could shave trip times by as much as 10% by speeding the process of getting on and off the bus.

A spokesman for the MTA, Eugene Resnick, refused to comment on The Post’s findings.

[QM1to6Ave]

4 hours ago, mikecintel said:

Unfortunately no and there are MORE Delays.

Oh wow...that article really shows "how the sausage is being made" so to speak. Only a dozen full-time employees on this massive project?? Damn.