Transit System to Pilot Fare Capping in New York, NY 2022

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is piloting a weekly fare cap on its bus and subway system. In this pilot, customers will pay no more than $33 per week to use public transit when using a new contactless fare payment system, OMNY. This equates to twelve single-ride fares that each cost $2.75 (12 * $2.75 = $33). Once customers pay for the twelve rides, they owe no additional fare on MTA for the remainder of the weekly period. In other words, MTA customers accumulate the equivalent of a weekly pass by paying for rides individually instead of paying for the entire pass upfront. Each seven-day fare capping period lasts from Monday to Sunday. At first, the fare cap will apply to full-fare commuters, and customers must pay through OMNY. With OMNY, customers can use their contactless payment card, a smart device like a smartphone, or a new OMNY card. To take advantage of the fare cap, customers must use the same means of payment throughout the weekly period.

This change in fare policy is intended to make MTA more user-friendly and equitable. MTA will explore the impacts of this pilot and determine if fare capping is sustainable as a permanent policy. As the largest public transit agency in the United States, MTA’s transition to fare capping and contactless fare payments can pressure other agencies to make similar changes.

Last updated February 14, 2022