OMNY finally coming to Roosevelt Island Tram, JFK still months away: MTA
Up, up and away!
New Yorkers and tourists alike will finally be able to tap their credit cards to ride Roosevelt Island’s iconic tram using the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s OMNY system — just days before service on the neighborhood’s only subway train drastically changes.
As the tram is managed by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, the “milestone” rollout marks the first time the contactless system expanded to a transit line not run by the MTA, Chairman Janno Lieber, said.
The tram’s OMNY installation comes just days before the MTA will scale back F train service between Manhattan and Queens to replace tracks inside the 63rd Street tunnel, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 28.
The F will run between Manhattan and Queens via the E line through the 53rd Street tunnel — bypassing Roosevelt Island — until spring 2024.
The MTA will offer a shuttle train that will run every 20 minutes between 63rd Street/Lexington Avenue and 21st Street-Queensbridge, which will make a stop at Roosevelt Island, maintaining some subway service. However, the train will not run overnight.
There will be additional bus service between Manhattan, Roosevelt Island and Queens, too.
Officials JFK AirTrain will be the next to get OMNY, which currently only accepts payment of its $8.25 fare with cash loaded directly onto MetroCards, but acknowledged that the rollout was potentially still four months away.
Documents obtained by The Post show that the MTA and Port Authority, which runs the AirTrain, finally struck a deal in May to bring over OMNY.
The 31-page contract states that the tap-and-pay system will be installed on three fare gates at Jamaica Station and another three gates at Howard Beach.
Riders can transfer at Jamaica to the J/Z or E trains and the Long Island Rail Road and at Howard Beach to the A train.
The current setup leads to long and frustrating lines at the MetroCard machines at the two transfer points to the subway system as straphangers and tourists are forced to queue up to load the cash onto their cards before entering or exiting the AirTrain system.
A Post investigation published in May revealed how programming snafus, pivoting priorities and management turnover led to the OMNY project running $130 million over its $645 million budget and falling years behind schedule.
The MTA has disclosed that its commuter railroads won’t switch over to the new system until 2025.