The MTA plans to begin testing out a “virtual” reloadable OMNY card that New Yorkers can keep on their smartphones later this year.
The option could make life easier for transit riders who rely on physical cards to pay their fares. The virtual cards could particularly help students in the city who rely on flimsy paper OMNY cards that give them four free rides a day during the school year. Parents and students have complained those cards break too easily and are difficult to replace.
Shanifah Rieara, senior adviser for communications and policy for the MTA, said last week that the transit agency would distribute plastic sleeves for students in the interim ahead of the school year to protect their paper cards.
In the long term, the MTA will also make student cards OMNY cards with harder plastic. Chalkbeat reported last month the city also plans to pilot virtual OMNY cards for students at seven schools this fall.
The MTA fully phased out the MetroCard at the start of 2026, and fully converted to OMNY for subway and bus fare payments. The agency sells physical, reloadable OMNY cards at vending machines — and the tap-to-pay system only allows riders to be charged $35 every seven days so long as they pay with the same device or credit card each time they pay at turnstiles.
Still, many riders have called for reloadable cards they can keep in their smartphones' digital wallets. The agency previously planned to roll them out in the third quarter of 2025 before pushed that plan back to the end of 2025. Now, nearly a year later, the MTA said the option will be expected soon.
MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick did not specify whether the pilot would begin to roll out before the start of the school year on Sep. 10. NYC Public Schools spokesperson Dominique Ellison confirmed they’re working with the MTA to finalize details on the rollout for students.
Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said students have been demanding better card options for their free rides. Daglian also said the MTA aims to give students more durable plastic OMNY cards in the spring semester.
“The MTA is field-testing [virtual cards] with some staff,” Daglian said. “ They're looking at first making sure it works with regular riders before putting it out in the field of students.”
MTA officials have said that making it easier for students to use their free OMNY cards will reduce fare evasion on the transit system. The MTA reported 99.3% of all transit trips are paid via the tap-and-ride system as of this month, but declined to specify how the remaining 0.7% of riders — who account for more than 35,000 daily rides — pay their fares.
