New York MTA’s ‘Tap and Go’ Payment System May Take Longer to Finish

Implementing the new “tap and go” payment system across New York City’s subways, buses and commuter rails may take until June 2025, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s outside engineering consultant.

That revised timeline is nearly a year longer than the MTA’s anticipated finish date of September 2024. The MTA, the largest mass-transit provider in the US, is transitioning to One Metro New York, or OMNY, a contactless payment system where riders hold a bank card, smartphone, or an OMNY card on an electronic reader to access mass transit.

“The project has experienced delays to key milestones such as the installation of New York City Transit, configurable vending machines, OMNY revenue system, as well as the introduction of OMNY to the commuter railroads, which is impacting the project substantial completion,” Joseph DeVito, program manager of MTA’s Independent Engineering Consultant and senior vice president at The McKissack Group, said Monday during an MTA committee meeting.

OMNY is a $772 million project that will replace the MTA’s current MetroCard and provide riders with a more reliable and faster way to pay. Usage has steadily increased since the MTA first started adding OMNY screens in December 2020. About one-third of all subway and bus rides are paid using OMNY, as of September, according to Amy Linden, acting lead for the MTA’s fare payment program.

Installing OMNY to all subway stations and buses may take until the third quarter of 2024, nearly one year later than the MTA’s October 2023 completion date, according to the IEC report. Adding OMNY to the Metro North and Long Island Railroads may take until the second quarter of 2025, according to the IEC.

MTA’s contractor on the OMNY project, Cubic Transportation Systems, also believes it will take more time to fully implement the new system beyond the MTA’s projections. The transit agency is working with Cubic on an updated timeline, Linden said.

“We are working with the vendor to understand the basis for their changed forecast and what is required to improve it,” Linden said. “The effort to align on a reforecast is ongoing at this time.”