MTA’s tap-and-go payment system spotted in Jamaica

Eagle photo by David Brand.

By Jonathan Sperling

OMNY readers — part of the MTA’s tap-and-go fare payment system — have arrived at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue subway station in Jamaica, meaning that it’s only a matter of time before the new system is available to Eastern Queens commuters.

The Jamaica hub, where riders can take the E, J and Z trains, is the first subway station in Queens equipped with OMNY readers. The readers will be activated for use some time before the end of December, the MTA announced last month.

Nearly 7.3 million commuters rode the subway from the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station in 2018, making it among the most popular in Queens. The station is also a major stop on the Long Island Rail Road and AirTrain to John F. Kennedy Airport.

Sutphin Boulevard is among 48 subway stations across the city to receive OMNY readers in December. Before that, only buses in Staten Island and subway stations located along the Lexington Avenue line between Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue and Manhattan’s Grand Central were equipped with OMNY readers. The readers work by allowing customers to utilize a contactless card or device to quickly pay for a subway fare, rather than swiping a MetroCard.

Other city stations scheduled to receive OMNY readers in December include Penn Station, Whitehall Street and South Ferry in Manhattan, 86th Street in Bay Ridge and the St. George and Tompkinsville stations on the Staten Island Railway.