{"id":85399,"date":"2025-12-31T11:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/85399\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:22:07","slug":"mta-retiring-metrocard-wednesday-is-last-day-to-purchase-iconic-nyc-fare-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/85399\/","title":{"rendered":"MTA retiring MetroCard: Wednesday is last day to purchase iconic NYC fare card"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be retiring the MetroCard after three decades<\/a> of service. After Wednesday, Dec. 31, straphangers will not be able to buy or refill a MetroCard as the transportation authority prepares to pivot fully to the OMNY tap-and-ride system.<\/p>\n

Buying a MetroCard to commemorate the occasion might be difficult on Staten Island, as the MTA recently confirmed that all MetroCard vending machines had been removed from the borough<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While commuters will not be able to buy or refill a MetroCard, the card will still be accepted in 2026.<\/p>\n

Anyone still with a MetroCard is advised to spend down the value on their MetroCards or transfer remaining money to an OMNY card.<\/p>\n

Leftover balances will be eligible for transfer or reimbursement two years from the expiration date on the MetroCard, the MTA has previously said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To help with the transition, the MTA has announced several places<\/a> where Staten Islanders can refill OMNY cards, apply to the reduced fare program<\/a>, or transfer their remaining MetroCard balances.<\/p>\n

Commuters can also use the MTA\u2019s customer service centers, including the one located at the Staten Island Railway\u2019s St. George station,<\/a> to transfer card balances.<\/p>\n

At some point in 2026, the MTA will stop accepting MetroCards as fare payment, though the agency has not announced a specific date.<\/p>\n

When that time comes, buses will also no longer accept coins as a form of fare payment.<\/p>\n

Next year will also bring an increase to MTA fares and tolls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beginning Jan. 4, the fare for trains and local buses will increase from $2.90 to $3. On express buses, the current $7 base fare will become $7.25 per trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be retiring the MetroCard after three decades of service.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-85399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}