LIRR Won't Get OMNY Pay Until 2025, 4 Years Later Than Projected: MTA

LONG ISLAND, NY — The MTA announced that the MTA's new "tap and go" ticket system, One Metro New York (OMNY) will not come to the Long Island Rail Road until 2025, delayed from the original projected 2021 completion.

At an Oct. 24 MTA board meeting, Amy Linden, the acting lead for MTA Fare Payment Programs, said that the forecast from Cubic, the vendor, for completion on the railroads has been pushed to 2025.

"We are working with the vendor to understand" the reason for the change, she said.

The vendor's ability to procure needed resources was one reason for the delays given at the meeting. The completion date has been pushed forward more than once since the project began: Estimates of OMNY being operational for the LIRR were first given as 2021, 2023 and then 2024.

Joseph Devito, program director, said that the $772 million project is now 49 percent complete.

OMNY was first implemented in subway stations December 2020, and continues to add users, Linden reported.

MetroCards will be fully phased out by 2024.

OMNY was designed to be both contactless and seamless between all of metro New York's public transit: subways, buses and the LIRR and Metro North. Customers can buy tickets and monthly passes with a contactless credit card or smart device.

There will also be physical OMNY cards available for those without smart device abilities or tappable credit cards, the MTA said.