Un-‘fare’ to OMNY

$200 more yearly than MetroCard

What a steal! The MTA is charging OMNY users nearly $200 more for a year’s worth of rides than those swiping old-fashioned MetroCards.

That’s because the agency still has yet to deliver a monthly pass or fare cap for the new OMNY fare system, meaning subway and bus riders still don’t qualify for the MTA’s best per-ride price.

“We know that the MTA has signaled its intention to have a monthly fare capping product,” said Andrew Albert, who sits on the MTA board.

“But we need to get this out there sooner rather than later to get more people to switch over.”

Currently, the only discount the MTA provides via OMNY gives riders free unlimited rides after tapping into the subway or onto a bus 12 times in a week, starting on Monday and ending Sunday. That totals out to $34 per week, or $1,768 a year, under the MTA’s proposed fare hikes this week.

The proposal would increase the cost of a monthly MetroCard to $132 — which tallies out to $1,596 for 12 to cover the year.

That means riders using the fare system the MTA wants to retire would save $172 by sticking with their monthly MetroCard.

MTA officials have said for years they intend to provide a series of passes or fare caps for OMNY that would mirror the prices offered via MetroCards. But the agency has only rolled out the weekly 12-ride cap so far.

Meanwhile, OMNY has been bedeviled by years of delays due to glitches and bugs in its underlying computer system.

Its price tag has jumped from $645 million to $772 million.

“The MTA should be doing everything possible to encourage people to switch to OMNY, including offering the full array of discounts,” said Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein.

“One reason riders still can’t board and pay at the back door of a bus — even though the readers are there — is that the MTA says too few riders are using OMNY,” Pearlstein added. “Yet, the reason so many riders are sticking with MetroCard is because the MTA isn’t providing all the discounts.”

The Riders Alliance and other major transit advocacy groups have been pushing hard for alldoor boarding as one way the MTA could speed up service.

Experts estimate it could shave trip times by as much as 10%.

An MTA spokesman, Eugene Resnick, declined to comment on the price difference, but said, “Customers who want a 30-day option can still purchase that product on MetroCard.”