MTA Glitch Charged Riders New $2.90 Fare Weeks Early

NEW YORK CITY — The MTA's new fare hike came three weeks early for some subway and bus passengers.

Some riders who used the OMNY contactless payment system Monday morning were charged $2.90 because of a technical glitch caused by a vendor's software test, according to the MTA's Twitter account.

"We immediately directed them to fix the issue and it's now resolved," the tweet states.

"If you were charged $2.90, you will be reimbursed 15 cents per transaction."

Early this morning, some customers using our contactless payment system, OMNY, were mistakenly charged $2.90 for their fare. This was due to a testing error by Cubic, the vendor building out OMNY. We immediately directed them to fix the issue and it's now resolved.

If you were…
— MTA (@MTA) July 31, 2023

Before the premature rollout, the 15-cent fare hike was slated to begin Aug. 20.

The fare hike is the first such increase in seven years.

But even though it's a handful of pennies or a few nickels, many New Yorkers aren't happy with paying more for subway and bus that they often find substandard.

New Yorkers flooded the comments under the MTA's tweet about the accidental fare hike and asked how they'd be reimbursed. The transit agency's social media workers replied to query after query with apologies and a promise: "If you were overcharged, you will be reimbursed per transaction."

Many New Yorkers responded with snark and contempt.

"congestion pricing won’t have the same problem nah that won’t happen," one tweeted.

"Fare beaters not affected tho," another wrote.