{"id":286512,"date":"2025-10-08T12:36:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286512\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:36:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:36:41","slug":"nyc-buses-to-end-coin-payments-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286512\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Buses to End Coin Payments in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>First, tokens. Then the MetroCard. Now, the jingle of loose change is heading for retirement. The MTA has announced that beginning in 2026, coins will no longer be accepted as fare payment on New York City buses\u2014marking the first time in history that riders won\u2019t be able to pay cash onboard.<\/p>\n<p>The decision is part of the agency\u2019s ongoing shift to OMNY, the tap-and-go contactless payment system that already accounts for more than half of all transit rides. Riders can pay using a credit card, smartphone or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/newyork\/news\/heres-how-to-get-an-omny-card-in-nyc-for-the-subway-trains-buses-and-public-transport-in-the-city-032025\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">OMNY card<\/a>, which will replace the MetroCard completely by the end of 2025. Coins will still be accepted at subway vending machines and at roughly 2,700 retailers that sell OMNY cards, but not on buses.<\/p>\n<p>The change comes alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/newyork\/news\/its-official-the-new-york-subway-is-now-more-expensive-than-its-ever-been-100125\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fare increases taking effect in January 2026<\/a>. The base fare for subways, local buses and Access-A-Ride will rise from $2.90 to $3, while express bus fares will increase from $7 to $7.25. The reduced fare will move from $1.45 to $1.50. Once MetroCards are phased out, the cost of a new OMNY card will rise from $1 to $2, though the MTA notes that OMNY cards \u201care more durable and last for up to five years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone is ready to part ways with quarters. \u201cA lot of elderly people are not going to like that since some are used to paying the fare using coins and don\u2019t trust using a credit or debit card,\u201d commuter Martine Lamarque <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/nyc-transit\/coins-ban-fare-payment-nyc-buses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">told amNY<\/a>. Transit advocate Jack Nierenberg also criticized the change, pointing out that \u201cthe fee to buy an OMNY card has been hiked, so riders who rely on coins now will have to pay disproportionately more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The MTA says the move will speed up boarding times, reduce maintenance costs and bring New York\u2019s transit system in line with major cities that have already gone cashless. For longtime riders, though, the change is a little bittersweet\u2014another farewell to a familiar New York ritual. After all, who doesn\u2019t remember the satisfying clatter of coins dropping into the fare box as the driver pulled away?<\/p>\n<p>Soon, that sound will fade into city lore\u2014joining the click of the turnstile and the swipe of a MetroCard as relics of commutes past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, tokens. Then the MetroCard. Now, the jingle of loose change is heading for retirement. The MTA has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":286513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,11234,405,403,11235,5226,5225,5228,5227,1164,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-286512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-categories-travel","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-news-transport-travel","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-travel","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115338581393914862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}