MTA to Offer Free Rides for ‘Tap-and-Go’ Customers in NYC

New York City subway and bus riders who use the MTA’s OMNY “tap-and-go” payment system for more than 12 single-fare trips within a week, will soon be automatically upgraded to an unlimited weekly pass.

The new pilot program will launch on February 28. MTA 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 and is now available at most stations. 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. That’s equal to 12 single-fare trips and equivalent to the cost of a weekly unlimited MetroCard.

For the purpose if this new MTA offering, the week starts at midnight Monday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Here are some of the details of the new program, as shared by the MTA:

• The pilot program will initially be available for full-fare trips on New York City subways and local buses.
• The program would apply only to trips taken using OMNY, our contactless fare payment system. You must use the same contactless ​bank card or smart device ​or OMNY card for each trip.
• Customers will automatically receive free, unlimited rides ​for the rest of the week once they have paid $33 in fares — the same as taking 12 trips during a seven-day period.
• Customers can track their progress toward reaching unlimited rides on the OMNY website. You’ll see a more detailed trip history and information if you register for an OMNY account.

But if you take less than 19 single-fare trips during a week you can still get a discount. I’ve previously covered a Cash app discount for MTA rides. Using the Cash Card, you can get $1 off every ride, every three hours. So if you take 18 rides in a week, it will cost you only $31.50.

But I don’t think you have to pick one or the other. You can stack both of these offers to get some super cheap rides on MTA subways and buses. You can “tap-and-go” with the Cash Card and once you hit 12 rides within a week, the rest of your rides will be free. That means that you will have unlimited rides for just $21.

Keep in mind that the MTA pilot program is not live yet. So for now you can just get $1 off every ride, or load $1.05 to your MetroCard every three hours and pay just $0.05 with the Cash app. If you don’t have the Cash app yet, you can read more about this MTA discount here, and sign up to also get a $5 bonus. Hopefully this MTA offer is still around in March.