Some NYC seniors troubled by switch to OMNY as MTA kills the MetroCard

A group of New Yorkers braved frigid temperatures on East 68th Street earlier this month to wait in line for the hottest ticket in town.

Among them were married couple Pat and Chick Schissel, 87 and 97 years old, respectively. They waited 30 minutes to speak with an MTA worker inside a van parked on the street. It’s one of dozens of outreach events the transit agency held across the city this month where New Yorkers could transfer any money left on their near-obsolete MetroCards over to brand-new OMNY cards.

“ I really don't know if there is money on here or not, so if there is and we are able to switch it over, I'll feel great,” Pat Schissel said.

The group assembled on the Upper East Side was running out of time to make the switch. Come Jan. 1, the MTA will no longer sell MetroCards, completing a transition to the new fare system that dragged on for nearly a decade. But the Schissels soon discovered the MTA’s mobile van was not the place to transfer their senior discount MetroCards — each bearing their portrait — to OMNY versions. To do that, they’d have to schlep downtown.

“ They told me that I need to go to one of the customer service places, which is hard for us,” Pat Schissel said.

The Schissels are just two of roughly 1.5 million New Yorkers enrolled in the MTA’s discount program that provides half-priced transit fares to seniors. And like many aging New Yorkers, they tend to struggle with the type of modern digital technology that powers OMNY.

“ I don't want a card linked to my checking account or linked to my credit card that can possibly be lost or stolen and my account drained,” 86-year-old Midtown resident Beth Childs said. She also griped that the new OMNY system doesn’t display the card’s remaining balance on the turnstile, as happens with the MetroCard.

Several seniors said they’ll miss another feature of the MetroCard: having their photos on the back. Upper East Side resident Jane Harrison, 79, bristled with pride over her old fare card. “It's pretty, and OMNY isn't pretty,” she said.

“ I do miss the fact that my picture's not on it because I think someone could steal it and use it if I had lots of money on it,” her husband, JB Harrison, agreed.

MTA spokesperson Michael Cortez pointed out 94% of reduced-fare trips are paid for with OMNY.

“Tap-and-ride provides more access, more flexibility and more ways for riders to manage their fare than MetroCard ever did,” Cortez said.

But advocacy groups have argued the tap-to-pay options are not viable for many disabled New Yorkers who use paper vouchers to pay for their Access-A-Ride trips. Many people in wheelchairs pin those vouchers to their shirts before riding. With OMNY, they’ll need to figure out how to tap cards or devices.

“ Someone who struggles handling cash or a card or struggles pressing buttons on an app or handling a smartphone, it's tough to make those payments,” said Evan Yankey,  advocacy director for the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled. “Being able to have a paper voucher, that was easy because a support staff or a family member could give someone a paper voucher for someone who, for example, can't move their hands or arms.”

MTA officials said about 100,000 of the 9 million Access-A-Ride trips the agency provided last year were paid for with paper vouchers.

Even some of those who successfully converted to the OMNY system weren’t convinced that the new options are a good deal. Donna Evans, 69, from Windsor Terrace, was skeptical of the MTA’s fare-capping policy, which only charges riders 12 single-ride fares every seven days, so long as they use OMNY with the same card or smartphone for each trip.

“They seem to change the goalposts, at least in my experience,” Evans said. “One week, it seems to be Wednesday through Thursday, the next week it's Sunday through Saturday. I've called like three or four times and I cannot get a comprehendible answer from anybody because I don't think the people that work there, even know.”

“ I've been keeping track on paper and comparing it to what the website tells me and we'll see,” she added. “It's a job for obsessives.”