NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- A new way to pay for public transportation without struggling to swipe your way through is making its debut this month.
The OMNY card is making its way to retail stores across the city beginning in October. It comes after the contactless fare system debuted for phones and credit cards back in 2019.
OMNY, which stands for One Metro New York, is offering its card for $5 for use in tapping through subway turnstiles. Users can buy or load up the cards at retailers or with an online account.
And while the card is five times more expensive than a MetroCard, an account will let users check out train schedules and receipts for trips. And according to Curbed, the card works for seven years — way up from the 18-month expiration on MetroCards.
“We are actively exploring ways to return the OMNY card charge to customers, including a $5 travel credit or returning $5 when a customer returns the card to an OMNY card point of sale,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan told The Daily News.
At this point, OMNY doesn’t offer weekly or monthly card options and doesn’t yet have reduced fare benefits, but the latter could be coming by the end of the year.
The card can be added to digital wallets, much like OMNY users could previously and still can use for their credit cards or phones.
MTA officials said OMNY vending machines are coming to subway stations early next year, with MetroCard set to be phased out in 2023. LIRR and Metro-North OMNY use is due in the next phase of its rollout.
OMNY is currently installed at all city subway stations and on MTA-operated local, limited and express buses. Officials announced the system hit 100 million “taps” back in July.