Thread by @JMartinezNYC

So what’s the name of the MetroCard’s replacement? Try OMNY - shorthand for One Metro New York.

@MTA employees will begin testing OMNY in March on 4/5/6 between Grand Central & Atlantic Av./Barclays Center - and on SIM Express Bus Route.

OMNY will be available to the public in May at those 16 stations on the 4/5/6 and on ALL Staten Island buses. It will roll out from there to other subway lines and bus routes.

Riders on buses, subway and @LIRR & @MetroNorth will be able to use OMNY through smartphones, a contactless credit/debit/prepaid card. An OMNY app is on the way.

Cash can pay for rides, too - and the MetroCard won’t be phased out until 2023. All the details are laid out in a letter sent to MTA employees - it was obtained by @THECITYNY.

In that letter, @MTA President Pat Foye writes, “The name OMNY is a twist on the prefix ‘omni,’ meaning all - it references how our transit system serves and unites all New Yorkers, connecting communities and bringing the regions diversity and energy together.”

And now, take a look at the fare-payment cards I have in my wallet. (I really should thin that thing out). Some are far more advanced than the MetroCard.

@SEPTA Key, @SFBART Clipper, @cta Ventra, @IRideMDT, @MBTA Charlie Ticket, @wmata SmarTrip.

You know who’s going to be sad to see the MetroCard go? MetroCard mega-collector Lev Radin. Check out this @NY1 story I did on him in 2017.

ny1.com/nyc/all-boroug…

The @MTA has talked about replacing the MetroCard for YEARS - it had hoped to start the process in 2016-17.

Back in 2013, I did a story on that and took out my old subway tokens to show to some younger riders. Many had never seen one.

“Wow,” one said to me. “Looks vintage.”

I was a late convert to the MetroCard, insisted on carrying tokens until the very end. What a fool I was.

But I do keep some tokens as souvenirs, and also own @NYCTSubway token cufflinks (seen here). Won’t much miss the MetroCard, though. At least not until 2023. #OMNY

And sure, some will say, “Down with OMNY, keep the MetroCard!” But the new name won out.

One name that wasn’t on the table? The “JoeCard,” memorably mentioned in 2017 by then- @MTA Chairman Joe “99 Problems” Lhota. From ace @amNewYork transit scribe @vinbarone...

Besides the “Joe Card,” here are some other names that didn’t cut it as the MetroCard replacement. Instead, we get #OMNY...

- “FreddyFerrerCard”
- “The FareBeater”
- “Give Us Your MONY”
- “TAPNGO... slowly”
- “Swipe Left”