Passenger Trains > Good Bye to New York City MetroCard

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is phasing out use of the MetroCard to ride the New York City subways and buses.   Wednesday, December 31 will be the last day the MetroCards will be sold.  It will be replaced with OMNY the details of which can be found here:  https://omny.info

Apparently, just as there are subway cars and bus and bus enthusiasts, apparently there are MetroCard fans.  The New York City Transit Museum is selling merchandise featuring the MetroCard (including this year's "Ugly Holiday Sweater."  

https://www.nytransitmuseumstore.com/collections.html?cat=187

Here is a New York Times article about the end of the MetroCard and those who have become nostalgic for it (possible paywall):

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/nyregion/new-york-city-metrocard-end.html




 

I have a set of cufflinks with the old Y subway token as the badge.  Wouldn't want a MetroCard, though.

I still have several laying around from my last trip to NYC. They should still have some value on them even though it has been several years.
How long will people be able to retrieve the value on their existing cards?

Posted from Android

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still have several laying around from my last
> trip to NYC. They should still have some value on
> them even though it has been several years.
> How long will people be able to retrieve the value
> on their existing cards?


I believe 2 years after expiration date, they have no refund value. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/25 07:53 by joemvcnj.

If you hear stories about the increased fare evasion in NYC you can blame the OMNY fare cappi8ng scheme replacing weekly and monthly passes. 

When people had to pre-purchase a pass they had no reason to fare evade. They had already paid.  With fare capping, every missed swipe is a possible savings, especially after the "monthly" cap is ~$200 more than the old Metrocard monthly. Big lesson on how incentives matter.

Apparently there are software issues about putting an unlimited pass on the new system.

There used to be folks who used exacto knives to surgically blot a tiny segment of the magnetic strip on monthly MetroCards. Done properly, you could ride free for a long time.  There was another segment where the code to prevent immediate second use was located.  Nick that, and you could pass many people thru the same turnstile on one MetroCard.