To Win Riders Back, M.T.A. to Offer Free Rides for ‘Tap-and-Go’ Customers
The New York Times
Transit leaders hope to boost ridership by putting a weekly fare cap on trips made with the subway’s new “tap-and-go” payment system.
Eager to push New York City’s subway ridership closer to prepandemic levels, transit officials are planning to entice commuters back with convenience and discounts.
Starting March 1, officials intend to put a weekly fare cap on trips made with OMNY, the “tap-and-go” fare system that was introduced two years ago. Riders who use OMNY now pay the regular $2.75 fare for every trip, but under the proposed change, users would get unlimited rides once they hit a $33 threshold during a seven-day period — equivalent to the cost of a weekly unlimited MetroCard.
The plan would start as a four-month pilot and discounts would end on June 30, though Janno Lieber, the acting chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway, said he hoped it would become permanent based, in part, on how popular it proves and how it affects the M.T.A.’s budget.
