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New York. – New York City's public transportation is heading for a historic change: the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that by the end of 2025 it will not only stop selling the traditional MetroCards, but will also apply a 4% fare increase, which would raise the cost of a single subway or bus ride to at least 3 dollars.
Although the exact date of the increase has not yet been made official, the adjustment is planned in the agency's annual budget and could be implemented in August. However, this process must first go through a vote by the MTA's board of directors and a mandatory 60-day public comment period, which could delay its entry into force.
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With the definitive transition to the OMNY (One Metro New York) system, the MTA will completely eliminate MetroCards, which until now are still the only way to purchase 30-day unlimited passes. The agency currently offers a version of a weekly unlimited pass through OMNY, with a spending cap of $34, but a similar monthly option has not yet been implemented. Eugene Resnick, MTA spokesperson, pointed out that MetroCards represent an unnecessary expense for the system. "Every year around 40 million dollars are lost on cards with unused balances. That model is not sustainable," he said. MTA President Janno Lieber added in a recent press conference that the elimination of the MetroCard opens the possibility of offering more flexible fares adapted to frequent users through the digital system. "With OMNY we can do things that were not possible before. We hope to take advantage of that ability to offer better benefits," he said.
