Fares and OMNY

Tapping a card or phone is now the default, and it caps your spending automatically once you have ridden enough.

The MTA has moved from the MetroCard to OMNY, its contactless system. You tap a credit or debit card, a phone, or a watch directly on the reader — there is nothing to buy in advance and no card to load.

Fare capping

The feature worth knowing about: OMNY caps your fares over a rolling week. Once you have paid for a set number of rides between Monday and Sunday using the same card or device, the rest of that week's rides are free. In practice this means you no longer need to calculate whether an unlimited pass is worth it — riding a lot gets you the unlimited rate automatically.

The catch is in the word same. Tapping sometimes with a phone and sometimes with the physical card behind it can register as two different accounts, and your rides will not pool. Pick one and use it consistently.

Free transfers

A subway-to-bus or bus-to-subway transfer within a set window is included, as is bus-to-bus. This is handled automatically when you tap.

Discount programmes

• Reduced-Fare — for riders 65 and over and riders with qualifying disabilities, at roughly half the base fare. Applied for through the MTA.
• Fair Fares NYC — a city programme offering half-price rides to low-income New Yorkers who meet the eligibility threshold. Administered by the city, not the MTA.

Both require enrolment in advance; neither is applied automatically.

Express buses and commuter rail

Express buses cost considerably more than local buses and are a separate fare. The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North use their own ticketing entirely and are not covered by OMNY fare capping.

Current prices

Fares change, and this is not an official source — check mta.info for the current base fare, cap threshold and discount amounts before budgeting around them.