MTA outlaws coin payment on NYC's buses: 'I remember when the bus was a nickel'

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The MTA doesn’t want your lousy nickels and dimes.

The transit agency plans to stop accepting coins on its buses at some point next year as it retires the MetroCard and moves over to the digital tap-to-pay OMNY system. It marks the end of an era: As long as there have been public buses in New York City, riders could pay to ride them with coins or tokens.

But as the city and the country head toward a cashless society, some of the copper-rich are being left behind.

Riders will be required to pay with their credit cards, smartphones or special OMNY cards that can be loaded with cash at a vending machine in a subway station or at about 2,700 retail stores that partner with the MTA.

But if a bus rider shows up to ride the bus with cold, hard American currency next year, they’ll be told their money is no good.

“ My concern about the machines is that senior citizens probably save coins because we're so strapped for money,” said 81-year-old JoAnn Giaquinto, who was waiting patiently for the M55 bus at the intersection of West Houston Street and Sixth Avenue. “They use their coins when they get on the bus.”

It’s the MTA’s latest move away from physical money. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, subway token booth workers were told to stop conducting hand-to-hand transactions to reduce the spread of the virus. The rule stuck after the pandemic subsided, and now the booth workers who once handled thousands in cash every day have far less responsibility.

At today’s current fare, New Yorkers need 11 quarters, a nickel and a dime to pay the $2.90 price to ride the buses. Lifelong Manhattanite Rosemarie O’Leary, 96, recalled a time when her pockets didn’t need to be so heavy.

“ I've seen a lot of changes. I remember when the bus was a nickel and a transfer was two cents,” said O’Leary, who was also patiently waiting for her bus on Prince Street while sitting on a portable stool she carries with her. “Everybody had a nickel in their pocket, so there was no problem.”

The MTA board approved the increase across the agency’s subway, bus and commuter rail services on Tuesday — bringing the subway and bus fare to $3 effective January. The fare change also included new discounts and provisions, including the removal of coin machines on buses.

MTA spokesperson Joana Flores said coin-carrying riders will have a few months to adjust after the fare increase goes into effect.

“Riders have many ways to use cash with a reloadable OMNY card, which is more than twice as easy to find as a MetroCard ever was,” said MTA spokesperson Joana Flores. “We’ll be ramping up customer awareness and outreach, especially for coin-using riders, to support a smooth transition to contactless payments.”

The shift away from cash comes as users have reported glitches with OMNY. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said his team is pressuring Cubic, the company the agency hired in 2017 to build out and manage the OMNY system.

The system’s rollout has faced years of delays. The MTA initially planned to end the sale of MetroCards by 2023. But production problems ballooned the cost of the OMNY contract from roughly $500 million to more than $700 million. And riders over the summer reported getting charged for multiple trips that they didn’t take, which officials said was ultimately caused by a computer error.

Martha Furcal, who often rides the M21 bus, hasn’t had any issues tapping with her card to pay her fare. But she still believes the coin machines should stay, in the moments when she has spare change in hand.

“I don’t agree with that,” Furcal, 58, said in Spanish. “One option, if you don't have the card, are coins, which is also another solution to pay for transportation.”

NYC transportation news this week

The safest summer in subway history. The NYPD said yesterday that the city’s subway system just had its safest summer in recorded history outside of the pandemic, with transit crime falling nearly 5% so far this year compared to last year. But police officials warned that future safety gains could be jeopardized by massive cuts to federal counterterrorism funding.

PATH obstructed. A broken rail disrupted PATH train service between Hoboken and Manhattan during Thursday morning's rush hour.

The war on NYC’s biggest infrastructure projects. The Trump administration has moved to slash billions of dollars in federal funding for the Second Avenue subway extension and new cross-Hudson train tunnels, arguing the state violates the Constitution by mandating some of the work goes to minority- and women-owned businesses.

Subway route switcheroo. The F and M trains will swap East River tunnels between Manhattan and Queens starting Dec. 8 in an effort to shave minutes off daily commutes for some 50,000 riders.

Train builders say they’re underpaid. Kawasaki workers who manufacture new MTA subway cars are paid less than the industry standard and face poor working conditions, contributing to rampant production, according to a new report from a labor advocacy group.

Curious Commuter

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Question from Michael in Queens

Following the Queens bus network redesign, the destination of westbound Q60 buses along Queens Boulevard now reads "Lenox Hill," where previously they said "East Midtown." While some stops have been removed, the route still terminates in the same place, at East 60th Street and Second Avenue, just over the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan. Why the destination signage change? I thought Lenox Hill was farther uptown anyway.

Answer

At first blush, Michael’s question seemed a little too in the weeds for “On The Way” to answer. But then again, the authors of this newsletter love a good neighborhood backstory. Lenox Hill, a rarely used name, refers to an area of the Upper East Side near Park Avenue and East 70th Street that was once an early 19th century farm owned by Scottish merchant and big wig Robert Lenox. But as Michael points out, that’s much farther north than where his Q60 bus route ends.

And that matters: The city’s real estate titans have a habit of inventing new neighborhood boundaries, and the MTA’s sign gives a false sense that Lenox Hill spans much farther south than it actually does. But, in this case, it turns out that Michael spotted a real error by the transit agency. And as is so often the case, “On The Way” gets results.

"Upon further review, the signs will be modified to read Midtown East," MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick wrote to Gothamist.

Congrats Michael, good looking out.