RAB Source Entry 1 – Abel Tricoche

Part 1 MLA CITATION

Ley, Ana. “To Win Riders Back, M.T.A. to Offer Free Rides for ‘Tap-and-Go’ Customers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Dec. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/13/nyregion/omny-nyc-subway-fare-capping.html?searchResultPosition=8. 

PART 2 SUMMARY 

This article discusses the drop of subway riders and the perks of using the new phone contactless way of paying for fare to access the subway by Ana Ley. Ley discusses the MTA boards want for subway usage to return to the pre pandemic levels and feel with the easy and contactless way of paying, it might be the key to bringing back those percentages. Riders that use the “OMNY” still pay the regular fare price but if you use it throughout the week, aka 7 days, you receive free passes meaning you get charged after your 7th charge. You will receive the equivalent to an unlimited metro card after paying a full weeks’ worth of fare when traveling via subway/bus. The chairman for MTA, Janno Lieber, speaks on how he hopes this new way of paying for fare will become a hit and widely used within travelers all around NYC and improve MTA’s budget. Lieber adds that the uncertainty of the state of the pandemic made the use of traveling via subway less of a habit for safety and less risk of exposure. This new way of paying for transit would save money for often riders and will lure back riders, said by transit advocates, who agree OMNY is a great step towards saving money when using transit and bringing people back into using public transportation compared to other countries that struggle with the issue of people not using public transportation anymore. Ley explains the simplicity of using OMNY and how it is a more modern fare system that has been adopted in other countries. A woman who agrees and thinks OMNY is more convenient says, “If I do happen to ride enough in a week tapping my card and I get a free ride out of it, I wouldn’t turn that down,” said Amy Kowell, 32, who lives in Brooklyn and works in the financial district in Lower Manhattan. “It’s definitely appealing.” The new system was introduced in May 2019 and Lieber states that more than 25% of all fare payments are made using OMNY. This could potentially mean metro cards can be replaced by OMNY but leaves out the question of people who don’t own a bank account or smartphones to access OMNY. A quote from a rider who disagree that OMNY is convenient says “Some of the broader issues around OMNY haven’t been discussed enough with regard to low-income New Yorkers,” said Emerita Torres, the vice president of policy, research and advocacy at the Community Service Society of New York, an antipoverty group. “That’s something that we have to study and really look at. In the end, the new way of paying for fare might be good for some people and bad other others, Lieber says it could be the offset of increasing subway ridership with people who don’t want to spend time doing math for how many times they need to ride to buy a specific metro card and be at ease with a simple tap and even earn a free ride after using it to their expense. 

PART 3A Reflection / Opinion & Quotes

I have mixed feelings about the article because I am someone who uses the train quite often, so I can understand the concern of many people who don’t want to use OMNY and the tap payment way. I also have the advantage of getting a free metro card from ASAP but before having ASAP, having to buy a metro card and knowing how much money and how many times I have to take the train or bus. I can agree that using the OMNY is convenient to people who understand how to use the tap contactless payment but to those who are at the disadvantage. I agree as well for people who don’t have access to smartphones or bank accounts, which are necessary to use OMNY. The author had quotes straight from the chairman of MTA showing his concern with people taking the subway and buses and how the pandemic decreased travel rates and MTA budget. I will definitely use this article because it goes with my proposal and how OMNY is something that is helping the decrease of transit riders and MTA profit.

PART 3B

This article is towards all NYC transit riders. Her purpose is to educate the new way of public transportation and to inform the riders of an easier way of paying fare. She shows us the benefits and the cons of OMNY, and how the head of MTA wants transit usage to return to pre pandemic levels. Having 2 sides of people who agree and who don’t agree put to perceptive what type of people will find OMNY more convenient than not. Ley has directed quotes from the chairman of MTA, Janno Lieber, and his plans for the next big way of traveling through MTA and how it will benefit and save money for riders. I believe the article is more directed towards older users who aren’t tech savvy because they would read newspapers and wouldn’t find OMNY as easy as younger people who understand contactless payment already. Ley is providing a space for people who need the heads up of what’s to come to MTA. 

PART 4 Notable Quotables

“By 2023, it will fully replace the transit system’s floppy yellow-and-blue MetroCards.

“While capping the fare would add convenience and could save money for commuters who rely on single-fare rides, advocates caution that there are still drawbacks, pointing out that many low-income people do not have bank accounts or smartphones.”

An OMNY card is also more expensive than a MetroCard — $5 compared with $1. It was unclear how fare capping would work with the city’s Fair Fares program, which provides certain low-income New Yorkers a 50 percent discount on public transit rides”