A survey of transit riders found that a majority have had issues with New York’s new tap-and-go system, months before its predecessor is expected to be retired.
As the MetroCard nears the end of its more than two-decade run as New Yorkers’ entry pass to the transit system, its high-tech successor, OMNY, faces an uphill battle for riders’ approval.
Nearly three out of four people who have made the switch to the new tap-and-go payment system said they have had problems with it, according to a report by an independent watchdog of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that controls the buses, subway and other transit in the region.
The survey, conducted in June and July and released Thursday, was published by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A., a consumer advocacy group that makes recommendations to the transit authority. Nearly 400 subway, bus and commuter rail riders responded to the questionnaire.
The most common complaint, made by 42 percent of respondents, was that their OMNY payments sometimes failed to register at fare gates, forcing them to tap repeatedly. More than a third of users said they had received charges hours or days after tapping, with nearly as many believing they had been overcharged, though the vendor that runs the software insists that is not the case. Others complained of long wait times for customer service and a lack of transparency.
“There is a lot left to be desired in terms of communication,” said Brian Fritsch, the advisory committee’s associate director. “We’re not there, we’re not close, and in some ways, at least in the short term, OMNY is a step back.”
The report comes after several complaints of technical glitches that have raised questions about the system’s readiness only months before the MetroCard is scheduled to be officially discontinued at the end of December. OMNY is expected to become the primary way to access all 472 subway stations, the AirTrain, and 348 bus routes citywide. (MetroCards will still be accepted for the time being, but no new cards will be sold.)
