After several years of delay and a ” Bring OMNY To The Roosevelt Island Tram ” online petition which collected more than 1400 signatures, the MTA’s OMNY tap and go payment system began working today on the Roosevelt Island Tram.
MTA chairman Janno Lieber walked up the Roosevelt Island Tram Second Avenue Manhattan station staircase
He then rode a not very crowded Tram over the East River to Roosevelt
Island
with Roosevelt Island Operating Corp ( RIOC ) President Shelton Haynes and
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
for a press conference announcing OMNY’s installation for the Roosevelt Island
Tram.
During the press conference, I asked if Roosevelt Island residents would continue to be able to skip the long Tram line of tourists by using their Metro Card.
Mr Lieber said:
I do not know the answer…
I do know the Roosevelt Island leadership and the electeds are determined to make sure that mass transit here works really well for Roosevelt Islanders. So you’re going to continue to look at that issue in consultation with whoever is relevant, whether it’s technical folks or legal or lawyers or whatever.
But for us, the bottom line is Omni, it just makes travel faster for everybody. So whoever’s waiting on that line, whichever line they’re in, or if they’re in one line, it’s going to be a lot faster with Omni than people buying Metro Cars one by one…
RIOC President Shelton Haynes added:
Right now we’re currently assessing situation and it’s very fluid. As it stands we do not anticipate having a line where Metro Card holders can skip. We’re still assessing, we’re still going to make the best decision possible for Roosevelt Island commuters…
According to this comment from Roosevelt Islander Instagram post on the Roosevelt Island OMNY installation today:
Other comments include about today’s Roosevelt Island Tram OMNY installation on the Roosevelt Islander Instagram page include;
@rooseveltislandny @mta Who are the specific individuals responsible for adding OMNY to tram at the same time the F train is shutting down for 7 months? If any of the people responsible for this actually lived on the island it would have never gone through at this time.
Now residents will have to wait behind hundreds of tourists on a tram line that regularly wraps around the block on the Manhattan side. Previously we could at least skip the bulk of the line by having a metrocard preloaded and ready. This, combined with limited train service, makes the daily commute for thousands of residents and island students very complicated and much longer. The once an hour red bus that moves 55 people on weekends barely helps.
Im seriously shocked at how short-sighted island leadership can be.
Weve also been repeatedly told that a resident/tram priority pass is simply impossible despite the fact this is exactly what happened in 1976 when the tram first opened so that residents could get home ahead of the flood of tourists coming to see the new tram. A priority pass isnt impossible, youre just not trying hard enough or simply dont care enough.
How are you gonna help resolve the situation? Please come up with an acceptable plan. Residents are angry and the pressure will continue to mount otherwise.
Here’s the full Roosevelt Island Tram OMNY press conference from this afternoon.
Here’s how to use OMNY.
UPDATE 8/25:
After the press conference, I asked the MTA:
What is the revenue allocation of the Tram fare between Rioc and the MTA?
My understanding is that Rioc currently receives approximately $2.00 of every swipe at the Tram. Has that changed with the installation of OMNY?
What is the new revenue allocation of the Tram fare?
A MTA spokeperson answered:
With OMNY, RIOC will get the benefit of the full value of fare revenue for pay go transactions.
Currently, RIOC receives $2 for Full Fare and $1 for Reduced Fare when a customer utilizes MetroCard.
The MTA press release on Roosevelt Island Tram OMNY installation is here.
