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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to close out today with your stories about using the MTA's OMNY system to ride mass transit. 212-433-WNYC. The MTA, as many of you know, is phasing out the MetroCard and moving all riders to OMNY, its tap-to-pay system for buses and subways. The process hasn't gone entirely smoothly. According to a recent survey by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, riders have reported things like delayed charges, multiple charges for a single trip, ouch, and OMNY readers not accepting payments.

Adding to riders' frustration was, of course, that messy commute last night as flash flooding left subway stations and tracks underwater, shutting down service on the 1, 2, and 3 lines in Manhattan for a while as one extreme example. With us now to talk about as much of this as we can is Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. Stephen, always great to have you on the show. Hey.

Stephen Nessen: Hey, Brian. Thanks for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, help Stephen Nessen and our transportation desk report this story. Have you encountered any problems paying fares with OMNY? Do you still prefer using a MetroCard when you still can? Do you prefer using the physical OMNY card to pay or the tap-and-pay feature that you can do in other ways? Call with your questions for Stephen. Has anybody experienced those multiple charges for the same ride or anything else? Call or text. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Tell us about that in particular, because I'm sure that one's raising eyebrows, and I know you reported on it for the station and Gothamist, a wave of riders who claim being charged multiple times for a single trip. How much is it happening?

Stephen Nessen: I wouldn't say not every single writer is experiencing that, but it was pretty widespread. I believe the bulk of the incidents occurred in May. I know you had a great introduction and setup, but just to be clear, nobody was ever overcharged in the end. It all looked like that on your phone, but maybe it took some days to sort out. Ultimately, nobody was ever overcharged for a subway ride. They went back and corrected everything.

Brian Lehrer: They were able to do that? They were able to see ride by ride because they have an exact time code? How did they fix it?

Stephen Nessen: Technically, I don't know exactly how they did it, but they have an extensive back end that's analyzing all this. The MTA assured me that everybody that was overcharged, in the end, they were only charged for the rides they took. I spoke with riders who confirmed--

Brian Lehrer: Well, that's good.

Stephen Nessen: They confirmed, in the end, it all worked out. A little bit scary to be charged $40, all at once, for one subway trip, for sure.

Brian Lehrer: Right. Another part of that was people being charged for some trips they didn't even take. How would that have happened?

Stephen Nessen: I think the back end just went haywire in May, and it's not exactly clear why. I think the MTA said they were doing some sort of software upgrade. As you alluded to, this OMNY rollout has been plagued with problems pretty much since the beginning. It's been a very slow rollout. This started in 2019, Brian, and the MTA, in their grand visions, plan to have the MetroCard phased out by 2023. Here we are, it's 2025. Finally, now we're talking about phasing out the MetroCard.

Brian Lehrer: We're getting several calls on the same topic. I'm going to let Jan on the Upper West Side represent the group. That is unhappiness with OMNY among seniors. Jan, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Jan: Hi, Brian. I called a month ago about still using a flip phone, so you can tell where I'm coming from.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs]

Jan: Actually, just listening to you, there are several other things. You can't even find out the trips you've taken. There's no history of anything anywhere, so I don't know if they're properly deducting from my MetroCard. Anyway, I will start where I started with the guy I spoke to. I have a credit card listed with my OMNY online, but I have to go to a machine to have the value added onto it. There's no autoload the way it used to be with the senior MetroCard when I got down to a certain value. I still have to present the credit card. Why is that thing on file?

Let's see, what else? I never see the value. If I transfer from bus to subway or whatever, I don't see that that's really happening. I don't see any value that's left when I go through the turnstile. What else? I'm sure there are many other things. Let me think. Anyway, those are the primary ones. I can't stand it. They have replaced a product without making sure that it was good when it was replacing what it was. They've rolled out a product that doesn't replace anything. They just rolled out a product that just doesn't work.

Brian Lehrer: Jan, thank you for your call. I'm going to get Stephen to address those things, but I'm going to let Rita in Brooklyn pile on with another particular OMNY limitation that she sees. Rita, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Rita: Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. My first comment is, why can we not see the balance on our OMNY card when we go through the turnstile? My second comment is regarding a trip that I took from AirTran on trying to get to the subway at the Howard Beach station. I didn't have enough money on my OMNY card to go through to pay the AirTran fee, but the OMNY card machine was on the other side of the turnstile. If it weren't for a service person finally coming and telling me just go through, I would probably still be standing there.

Those are just two issues that I think that OMNY card would be great, but they need more machines, and they need to look at the logistics and make sure it makes sense. When you get off of AirTran, you need to be able to add money to your card so that you can continue through the system.

Brian Lehrer: At least your flight landed, which a lot of ones didn't at JFK yesterday. Well, Stephen, there's a number of things. You could tick down that list if you want.

Stephen Nessen: There's a lot, yes. One thing I'll start with, you can't see your trip history complaint, which is really interesting because when OMNY first rolled out, it did have that feature. It did have that feature, but some privacy advocates and some privacy rights folks complained because, basically, all you needed was the credit card number to check somebody's trip history. There was concern that perhaps domestic violence abuse victims might be stalked, or an ex-partner who wanted to stalk their partner could use their trip history based on the credit card to see where they're coming and going these days, so the MTA pulled it down.

If you go to their website now, it just says they're evaluating other tools to offer that option. That's kind of interesting that they don't offer that anymore, although they say maybe they'll try to. That's a concern. I heard folks complaining about you can't see your balance on the card, which is really interesting because it's such a simple feature that the MetroCard has that OMNY doesn't have. I can't really explain why other than I think the MTA envisioned it would be on the back end, so you could check it later, or you could check on your phone, but you can't really see exactly how much you have left on your trip. You could just see that you took a trip and how much it cost.

Brian Lehrer: We have a number coming in on that one. People want to be able to see their balance.

Stephen Nessen: Right. I think the idea is that the MTA wanted it to be like you don't have to think about it, you don't have to worry about it, just tap freely. That works for folks who aren't maybe on a tight budget, but for folks who want to plan their trips and balance their budget more carefully, maybe that is more of a concern.

I think part of the idea, too, is that nobody's talked about the 30-day unlimited going away, but that's essentially what's going to happen. The MTA hasn't announced any plans for a 30-day unlimited OMNY card, but they do have a 7-day unlimited after you take a certain number of trips. I think the idea is they just want folks to tap and get to that limit so that they can then have an unlimited trip, rides for the rest of that week. Other than that, I can't really explain why you can't see the balance more easily or more readily. I haven't heard any plans that they're going to roll that out.

As far as refilling it with a credit card, I know they've finally installed OMNY machines more or less throughout the system. It should be easier, they say, to do that, but it is kind of a tedious process. I think also the idea with OMNY is that you just use whatever credit card you normally use, and you just tap that. I think they envisioned that most people would not need to refill a card, although there is a card, obviously, for people who want to do that.

Brian Lehrer: A listener texts, "My biggest complaint with OMNY is that you can't add it to your iPhone wallet." I guess they mean the Apple wallet, and says, "You'd think they'd want you to be able to tap on your phone, but I need to scan the card itself." Is that true?

Stephen Nessen: I don't know 100%, but I believe, right, if you get like a physical OMNY card, you're getting the physical OMNY card. If you have a credit card or if you get your transit benefit card from your company, you can add that to your iPhone. For me, that was, personally, as a transit user, the biggest game changer, because our company actually doesn't have a transit benefit card with a chip, so I can't tap that card to get in, but I can add it to my iPhone and then tap that to get in.

Even here at WNYC, when I started telling people about that, they were like, "Oh, that's how you do it." Because companies have to pay a little extra to get the credit card with the chip in it. We didn't talk about the AirTrain, which, oh, boy, do I love that one. I love that one, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Because?

Stephen Nessen: Because the MTA and the Port Authority have not the best relationship, let's say. Basically, the Port Authority turnstiles are not even compatible with OMNY. If you go to the station, the turnstiles don't actually open or close. They're just stuck in the open position because their technology is not even compatible with OMNY. They have people who work there who are like minders who say, "Tap your card, tap your card." Generally, I think they do a good job. Like this caller was noting the OMNY machine, that you can get a card is on the other side, which is just a hilarious thing, and another example of the poor coordination between the Port Authority and the MTA.

Brian Lehrer: About the overcharges for individual rides. I know you said that's now been rectified, but Frances in Crown Heights is calling in with her experience on that. Frances, we've got about 30 seconds for you. Turn your radio off and go for it.

Frances: Hi. Hey, New York. I want to say, number one, I do not trust OMNY. There's one time I went through my bank statement, and they basically charged me more than a monthly rail card, and I wasn't even fully into the month. It's like you can't see when your 10-day or your 12-day things start or ends. What I personally do now with my physical OMNY card is I only put a week's worth at one time, but that involves me subtracting how much I have on the card just to--

Brian Lehrer: I'm going to cut you off. Frances, I apologize profusely, but the show is ending, and I want Stephen to just be able to say, "We hear all the issues that people are still having." Is there an overall plan to make this a better experience? We have 15 seconds.

Stephen Nessen: The MTA says they're working on it, and they are very confident, by the end of this year, that folks will be able to trust the system. Take that for what it's worth.

Brian Lehrer: That's when the MetroCard completely disappears?

Stephen Nessen: That's right.

Brian Lehrer: Our transportation reporter, Stephen Nessen. Thanks a lot.

Stephen Nessen: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Stay tuned for Alison, folks.

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