Technology
Full implementation in NYC subways for contactless payments delayed to December
The Wall Street Journal estimates that riders would have to wait only a little longer to pay for bus and metro excursions across the city on a smartphone or on the contactless credit card. Today instead of October, all subways and buses are scheduled to complete the OMNY payment scheme.
New York officials suspended the digital reader installation in late March as part of the new coronavirus pandemic which delayed the system's service. According to the Paper, the work resumed in early May.
MTA officials state that contactless payments on Manhattan bus will be completely enforced by the end of July, and busses will be made available in the rest of NYC by the end of this year.
OMNY helps New Yorkers to pay for a MetroCard without going to a store. Nevertheless, these computers will continue to operate throughout the transition until 2023. The OMNY program is also a simple tool for gathering data from users, including drivers' locations and mobile app identifiers. Some riders mistakenly had double-charge while using the service. There was also a problem.
Riders without access to a telephone or a credit card currently lack an option; prepayment cards will only be available later on.
OMNY is a tap-to-pay service for many mobile and intelligent devices. Users of Apple Pay and Google Pay will pay for a few taps in public transport to NYC; and when the next train arrives, Google Assistant can notify you. Fitbit also includes an option to pay without touch. Last year the program began to be piloted.
