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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—marking the first time in history that riders won’t be able to pay cash onboard.
The decision is part of the agency’s 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 OMNY card, 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.
The change comes alongside fare increases taking effect in January 2026. 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 “are more durable and last for up to five years.”
Not everyone is ready to part ways with quarters. “A lot of elderly people are not going to like that since some are used to paying the fare using coins and don’t trust using a credit or debit card,” commuter Martine Lamarque told amNY. Transit advocate Jack Nierenberg also criticized the change, pointing out that “the fee to buy an OMNY card has been hiked, so riders who rely on coins now will have to pay disproportionately more.”
The MTA says the move will speed up boarding times, reduce maintenance costs and bring New York’s transit system in line with major cities that have already gone cashless. For longtime riders, though, the change is a little bittersweet—another farewell to a familiar New York ritual. After all, who doesn’t remember the satisfying clatter of coins dropping into the fare box as the driver pulled away?
Soon, that sound will fade into city lore—joining the click of the turnstile and the swipe of a MetroCard as relics of commutes past.