MTA finishes rollout of OMNY, allows Apple Pay on all subways and buses

As reported by Engadget, New York City's MTA has finished rolling out its OMNY contactless payments system to every subway station and bus line across all five boroughs in the metropolitan area. The OMNY (One Metro New York) system allows riders of subways and buses to pay for their fare using contactless payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay instead of the traditional metro card. The system also accepts credit and debit cards.

According to the report, it has taken around a year and a half between the first install of OMNY until it finally finished rolling out across the city. MTA executive director Al Putre says that the agency has already seen more than 35 million taps using the new system.

MTA first introduced the contactless payments last May, but it's taken more than a year and half for the technology to make its way across New York's transit system. In that time, MTA has seen more than 35 million taps using OMNY, MTA executive director Al Putre said in a press conference today. The next goal, he said, is to bring OMNY to New York's rail lines, and introduce contactless OMNY cards, including reduced fare cards, to bring OMNY's functionality up to par with current MetroCard offerings.

The MTA has posted a video to its YouTube channel on how to use OMNY with your digital wallet:

While MetroCards are still accepted for now, the MTA plans to retire them completely by the end of 2023.