So long, swiping. New York is now a ‘tap-and-fo’ subway

NEW YORK — It can often feel like New York City’s subway is stuck in the Stone Age compared with systems in other cities across the world. Trains built in the 1960s still run on the subway tracks, and parts of the signal system date to before World War II.

But perhaps one of the greatest symbols of the outdated system is the MetroCard — the flimsy fare card that was introduced a quarter century ago.

Cities like London and Chicago have embraced tap cards and smartphone payments while New Yorkers still stand at turnstiles trying to swipe their MetroCard at the precise slow, but not-too-slow, speed to avoid the dreaded, “Please swipe again.”

Now New York is finally getting a modern “tap-and-go” fare system that will make other cities jealous.

The system, called OMNY, short for One Metro New York, started in May on a handful of subway and bus routes. Riders can tap a credit card or smartphone on an electronic reader and keep walking.

OMNY will be installed on the rest of the subway and bus system by the end of next year and on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, the two commuter railroads the authority operates, by 2021.

Subway riders are a notoriously cynical group, but early reviews have been positive.

“It works perfectly,” Greg Dorsainville, 39, of White Plains, N.Y, said as he tapped his Android phone on the turnstile at Grand Central Station on a recent morning. “It’s seamless.”

The switch to OMNY is a major moment for the subway and a rare bright spot for a system that continues to frustrate riders. The MetroCard system is obsolete and should have been retired years ago. OMNY is a glimpse at the future and an example of one effort to modernize the system.