Late payment!
The troubled rollout of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new fare system, OMNY, has suffered another setback that will push the switchover to 2025 — and cost the agency another $34 million, documents show.
The fresh delays have forced the MTA to spend the extra millions to extend the contract for the ticketing system currently used on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North — Masabi’s eTix — until 2026.
“This extension is necessary as OMNY’s system rollout for MNR and LIRR, previously forecasted for 2023, is now forecasted for early 2025,” MTA staffers wrote in a memorandum asking the agency’s board to sign off on the purchase. “OMNY is not expected to achieve substantial completion inclusive of the railroads until late 2025.”
The heavily touted tap-and-pay system was supposed to unite the city’s subways, buses and commuter railroads by allowing straphangers to use the same card or device to purchase tickets on every system.
Officials have, at various points, even hoped that the Port Authority-run PATH transit system would use the new technology.
But a cascading set of delays has left the project at least $120 million in the red and the ticketing system even more balkanized than before.
Originally, the LIRR and MetroNorth were supposed to have OMNY beginning in 2021. The MetroCard used for city subways and buses was supposed to be retired at some point this year — another target date the MTA will miss.
Meanwhile, agency executives have told state lawmakers that problems with the underlying OMNY computer system have delayed efforts to get other agencies — like the PATH or the Roosevelt Island Tramway — switched over to the new tap cards.
OMNY’s much-promised app has yet to appear. And the system still doesn’t offer a true weekly or monthly pass for subway and bus commuters — a particular frustration for those whose employers offer pre-tax transit accounts that make fixed withdrawals from paychecks.
In addition, residents and tourists who use the Port Authority’s AirTrain at JFK Airport have been left fuming and stuck in long lines at vending machines because that system still only accepts MetroCards loaded with cash for the fare.
And the PATH recently announced it would pursue a new fare system separate from OMNY — even though it’s been bought from the same vendor, a firm known as Cubic.
As the delays grow, the price tag has ballooned, too — leaping from $645 million to $772 million, a total that does not include the $34 million approved Wednesday.
In a statement, the MTA did not dispute the additional delays to OMNY’s commuter rail rollout , but argued riders will be shielded from any inconvenience through the continuation of the eTix program as part of the TrainTime mobile app.
“Commuter railroad customers already have the benefit of mobile ticketing and contactless payment through the extraordinarily popular TrainTime App,” said spokesman Sean Butler. “Which has seen 1.5 million users purchase over 24 million tickets since its launch in August and has a 4.9 star rating on the App Store.”