First OMNY Card Machines Roll Out To Replace MetroCards

NEW YORK CITY — The MetroCard's sleek tap-to-pay replacement can now be purchased in a select handful of subway stations, MTA officials said.

The first OMNY Card vending machines will "finally" open in six subway stations, said Richard Davey, the head of New York City Transit Monday.

Davey said the rollout is to test how the vending machines — which take cash and credit for the refillable OMNY Card — handle day-to-day conditions in the city's subway system.

"We hope over the next 30 days the pilot will be a success, and we’ll be able to flip on more going forward," he said.

OMNY is the futuristic tap-to-pay fare collection system that is slated to fully replace MetroCards.

Officials planned to do away with the famous MetroCard swipe by 2024, although that timeline is up in the air.

Straphangers likely are familiar with the OMNY readers at gates that allow them tap a credit card or use a smartphone to pay their fares. Roughly 70 percent of full-fare subway rides are now made through OMNY readers, officials said.

Those readers are designed to take taps from the OMNY Card — a refillable physical card designed to last five years, as opposed to the three years for the MetroCard, officials said. OMNY Cards have been available to purchase at retail stores such as Walgreens, as well as many bodegas.

OMNY Cards will be available for $1, rather than the typical $5, for a limited time at OMNY vending machines, officials said. People who buy them from retailers will get $4 in ride credit for a limited time, they said.

Eventually, all 472 subway stations will have OMNY vending machines, officials said.

The first six can be found in:

• 86 St and Lexington Ave: 4, 5 and 6 lines
• Atlantic Ave-Barclays Ctr: 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, Q, N and R lines
• Bowling Green: 4, 5 lines
• Fordham Rd: 4 line
• Fordham Rd: B and D lines
• Junction Blvd: 7 line