StreetsBLOG NYC, 5/20/24
MTA Demotes OMNY Contractor Cubic In Hopes of Speeding Up Commuter Rail Fare Integration
Officials are giving up on Cubic's delayed plans to bring Metro-North and the LIRR into the OMNY-verse.
The MTA's beleaguered tap-and-go fare payment system OMNY will finally come to Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road next year after years of delays — but without OMNY contractor Cubic at the helm, transit officials revealed on Friday.
Another contractor, Masabi, will instead oversee the incorporation of bus, subway, and commuter rail fares and schedules into the LIRR and Metro-North's popular trip planning and ticketing app MTA TrainTime, with the commuter rails running their own back-end software for fare collection, officials said.
"This is the best way to get this done as quickly as possible so that we don’t have any interruption in the quality of our ticketing service," MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said in an exclusive interview.