OMNY

The MTA plans to introduce 'fare capping' to OMNY in 2022.

The idea is that if a person spends an an amount equal to an unlimited pass then their OMNY card would automatically have the pass added for the remainder of the period.

https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-honcho ... -for-omny/

Totally amazing. They are grasping at straws. Get the cards and machines in place, then propose fare programs.

They already do that with reduced fare metrocards for seniors that are set up for auto-replenishment via EasyPay. Dunno why they never did it with EasyPay regular fare metrocards.

I see what they're doing - publicizing the options so that once the physical card rolls out more widely it will be more quickly adopted. There is no reason why they can't be fare capping those who tap their credit cards now - of course that requires you to use the same card continuously.

I had a chance to use OMNY today, after pre-pandemic metrocard ran out.

Very easy to use, just opened up Google Pay and paid.

I would love to see them bring back the 1 day unlimited ride pass. It seems to me that OMNY might make that possible, since people aren't as likely to discard something you had to pay $5 dollars and is linked to your personal account, and especially not a phone, or if MTA is really paranoid, require verification of an address outside the city.

No indication that PATHs proposed system will accept OMNY cards.

https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/e ... -fare.html

I swear...PANYNJ and MTA are some of the most badly managed organizations in the world.

Not as bad as Philadelphia's SEPTA.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/technolo ... mny-system

I don't think that surprises many.

Shoulda stuck with tokens! LOL

OMNY now has a list of locations that sell the card and reload the card. It is by zip code. It defaults to a map but you can select list.

https://omny.info/retail-locations

CVS locations can do a reload but does not sell the card.

I tried buying a card at the 7-11 upstairs from 149-Grand Concourse about two weeks ago. The first time they claimed it was cash only for purchases and their system was down so they couldn't take cash. Come back a few hours later and apparently they don't sell or fill gift cards after 6pm. So until the new MVMs are installed, the cash paying customers around there are SOL after 6pm. The sign the clerk emphatically pointed at did not indicate what time sales resume either.

None of the places listed in my neighborhood as having them actually do. Apparently this is an issue city-wide.
https://gothamist.com/news/mta-struggle ... rds-stores

Not surprising at all. In my opinion their planning on the program is lousy. Other transit systems introduced the smart card first then worked on various fare programs I t would appear that the people behind OMNY did not intend to have a dedicated card at all but rather wanted everyone to just use credit, debit or smart devices.

I found a logic flaw in this fare cap program and told them about it. So far they haven't responded.

I was told by an instructor during station agent training several years ago that "TA wants to get out of providing fare media because it will save them money" - they really do expect everyone to supply the fare media and definitely treat the OMNY card as a second thought, not considering the underbanked population they serve in addition to those who don't want to tie their cards to their devices or tap their credit card on a turnstile.

Fare capping is good - and the 7 day is a good start, but it should be a rolling period, not Monday-Sunday.

Well said. And one thing I don't want to ever do is tap my credit card - given the crime rate these days, especially at places like Penn, I expect someone to try and steal it from me. Bad enough I've got to get out a Metrocard. And since the jackasses don't sell OMNY cards at ANY subway station and since I don't patronize 7-11's (both a time issue plus I don't like them and the ones out on Long Island don't carry OMNY cards), I'm not likely to get one for a long time.

Side note - LIRR now has this 20 ride peak ticket. BUT - you can only get it by ETIX (which as an IT pro I won't touch with a 10 foot pole) or at a manned ticket booth. IOTW, not in ticket machines, which is beyond absurd.

Allan wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:49 am Not surprising at all. In my opinion their planning on the program is lousy. Other transit systems introduced the smart card first then worked on various fare programs I t would appear that the people behind OMNY did not intend to have a dedicated card at all but rather wanted everyone to just use credit, debit or smart devices.

I found a logic flaw in this fare cap program and told them about it. So far they haven't responded.

I've listened to multiple presentations on OMNY. It's clear that like everything else MTA does it's way behind schedule, and that many aspects have not been thought out well. They have huge ambitions for it, of course, but it brings multiple fare systems together and that's complex. They are under immense pressure to get discount programs in place and now is apparently the earliest they could do something. In the meantime, LIRR, MNCR are not included and won't be for years. I recently applied for a TA senior discount card. One of these months it will arrive. And, of course, it's a Metrocard, not on OMNY. What I find craziest is how hard it is to get an OMNY card. Same thing with the new 20 trip peak LIRR ticket - unless you are willing to gamble on using ETIX. On LIRR, you never know if and when your train will show up, and if you get it wrong you waste a very expensive ride. But you can't get this ticket from a ticket machine. Just Penn and a few other stations.

When I've listened to presentations on these discount programs, I want to scream out how stupid some of this is, but I don't. These people are super proud of their mediocrity, their being years behind schedule, and horrible distribution. In the corporate world, most of them would have been sent packing years ago.

I got an OMNY card early on at a 7-11 off Park Av & 23 St and put $5.50 on it. I am holding it strictly as backup in case my Senior MetroCard fails on me ( it did twice in the first year - since then it has been OK). In my area most seniors have a regular MetroCard with some money on it in reserve just in case. The 7-11 near me has space marked on the gift card carousel but no cards in the space.

Supposedly later this year the Senior OMNY card will be available. From what I understand I will be given a choice - either choose the card or register my debit card or credit card and it would be charged the reduced fare. I'll go for the OMNY card.