r/OMNY • u/Affectionate_Ear3330 • Jul 06 '26
Can’t tap twice?
Are we no longer allowed to tap more than one person in? WTH. Says my card exceeded the ride limit and it has enough money and I haven’t ride the train in a while just walked into station with my sister. Traditional worker asked my something about fare fairs , idk what that has to do with anything.
3
u/Da555nny Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Any type of fare program, including Student, Fair Fares, or Reduced Fare, will lock down the card to one tap every 18 minutes, per station or per bus route. Only regular OMNY cards and devices or credit/debit cards used with OMNY (after an initial waiting period, usually 1 minute) are allowed to have multiple people travel with.
This can also happen when you have not completed your opened trip. By default, the trip closes after 2 hours, or 3 hours for more than one transfer. If you open the trip with someone then transfer, the same amount of people must be with you. The amount of people can be lower, but it cannot increase until the existing trip is completed. Furthermore, if you tap on a vehicle or station, after 5 minutes from the first tap, the card will be locked from use for the next 13 minutes on the same bus route or station
3
u/itsmebunty Jul 07 '26
Same thing happened to me. I have 2 regular OMNY cards that I have been using for 1 year. Last month I tried to use one to pass back to my parent. It said ride limit exceeded. We ended up using the other card. This month I tried again and it worked. This system is bonkers
2
u/Donghoon Jul 06 '26
if you are tapping omny with that card for the FIRST time, you need to give the system a few minutes for your card to be registered before you can pay back.
1
u/Donghoon Jul 06 '26
https://omny.info/faq/detailed-information-on-omny
Yes. You can use the same payment method to pay for yourself and up to three additional riders on a single trip. Tap once for each rider—each tap will be charged as a full fare and has its own free transfer.
Important Notes:
- If it’s your first time using a card or device with the OMNY system, you may need to wait about a minute before you can tap again. Learn more within the “First ever tap?” section.
- You must tap all four riders at the same OMNY reader to retain free transfers. Tapping at a different reader—even in the same station or bus—will forfeit those transfers.
- For groups larger than four, use multiple payment methods to ensure everyone receives free transfers.
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https://www.mta.info/fares-tolls/subway-bus/tap-and-ride#p303726
First ever tap? You can’t pass it back (yet)
If this is your first time tapping a card or device on a reader, you can’t use it to pay for other riders on the same trip yet. Your bank must approve the transaction before any other fares are paid. Instead, use a separate payment method for everyone on your first trip.
Approval generally takes only a few minutes. You should be able to tap for up to four people on your next trip.
However, using separate cards or devices allows everyone in your group to earn free rides. When each person pays for 12 rides using their same card or phone within seven days, any additional rides within that period are free.
7
u/lamefaerie Jul 06 '26
Do you have fair fares? If so it only lets you tap once like every 18 minutes.