Commuters across New York City are voicing frustration over issues with the OMNY contactless fare payment system. While the system promised a seamless transition from MetroCards, a major software update last month has left straphangers feeling like they have been taken for a ride.
A number of subway and bus riders told amNewYork that they were hit with payment errors, double charges and card reading failures. Some New Yorkers shared stories of taps not registering, resulting in delayed entry and possibly missed trains.
Zellerita St. Louis of the Upper West Side uses the subways to grab express buses to visit her father on Staten Island. Even though transfers should be free, she said she is still being charged multiple fares on her subway and bus travels.
“When I transfer, I noticed I still get charged an additional fare,” she said, adding that she has the same problem when taking local buses. “If I take the M7 and transfer to the Q train, I will get charged twice.”
In her case, she uses Apple Pay connected through her credit card to pay the fare, but worries about others who may be overcharged, too.
“I honestly feel that a lot of riders are unknowingly overcharged,” she said. “Especially if you are constantly going back and forth using different modes of transportation in the MTA system.”
Martha Salzmann-Gay said it takes her a few times to get through a turnstile using her OMNY card at different stations, causing her lots of frustration.
“Sometimes when I am using it to get on the subway (at different stations, so it’s the card not the turnstile) the card gets rejected a few times before I finally get the green Go. So frustrating, especially if there are people behind me waiting to get in. I have had it happen on buses, too.”
She added that it takes so much that she might have even missed the trains.
MTA responds to OMNY ‘hiccup’
While the recent problems have led to increased frustration and stress for New Yorkers on their daily commutes, MTA officials said they are aware of the issues, which stem from a recent software update necessary to ensure reliable OMNY service before sales for the current payment system, MetroCard, ends on Dec. 31.
“With deep empathy for the customer experience, we had a hiccup in one of these software upgrades that our vendor performed, we directed them to perform it,” said Jessie Lazarus, deputy chief for commercial ventures at the MTA. “We wish that the hiccup did not happen, and we’re doing everything we can to communicate clearly with customers to help smooth the bumps in the road from the last week and a half.”
Lazarus said customers were not charged erroneously, and the MTA is not aware of any duplicate charges. However, customers may have received late-arriving charges after passing through turnstiles or paying on buses.
“We were seeing some delays between when someone taps at the turnstile and when that tap is showing up and deducting value from their account. That could happen in seconds, but it was taking several days,” Lazarus said. “That was causing some confusion, and the transactions would arrive when the system had more capacity and headroom.”
Lazarus said the agency started alerting customers to the issues during the week of May 15 when they first noticed the problem. She said the problems were “largely resolved” by May 29.
“These late-arriving charges, we want to make sure that nearly 100% of the time the charges are appearing to customers within seconds,” Lazarus said.
Anyone experiencing problems with their OMNY account should call the OMNY call center at 877-789-6669 or visit the website at omny.info. The center is currently experiencing higher volume calls due to the glitch, but customers can request a callback.
