During a recent interview, Ms. Jiao shared her frustrations regarding the new student OMNY payment card, which was introduced this school year to replace traditional MetroCards. Although the OMNY card offers students four free rides each day throughout the year, an alarming number of parents have reported unexpected malfunctions. After notifying the school about the need for a replacement card, some have waited over two weeks, raising concerns about the school’s slow response time.

Ms. Jiao’s child is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. She recounted that her child was able to use the OMNY card without issues on October 7th while heading to school. However, on the return trip, the card suddenly stopped working, despite showing no signs of physical damage. In the following days, every attempt to use the card resulted in the message, “Card Not Accepted,” preventing her child from taking advantage of the OMNY benefits and complicating the daily commute.

According to the city’s Department of Education, all lost, stolen, or damaged OMNY cards must be reissued through the school. When Ms. Jiao reported her child’s non-functional card, the school initially replied that they had no spare cards and might take months to order new ones. The length of the waiting period and the unexplained failure of the card were unacceptable to Ms. Jiao. She emphasized that the student OMNY card is essentially a “thin piece of paper” that lacks waterproof or reinforced features, making it quite fragile.

On October 23rd, Ms. Jiao’s child finally received a new OMNY card, but the process took over two weeks, falling short of a few months. She also noted that her child’s experience wasn’t unique; around nine other students at Stuyvesant faced similar issues, with only two out of the ten having received replacement cards so far.

Responding via email, Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, stated that they are collaborating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to investigate the issue. She emphasized that students experiencing problems with their OMNY cards can contact the school for replacements, yet she did not address the concern about the lengthy waiting periods. Stuyvesant High School has requested additional OMNY cards from the appropriate authorities, but as of now, they have not provided a response to the media’s inquiries.

According to MTA’s official guidance, if a student encounters issues with their OMNY card while using it, they should seek help from station staff. If that fails, they need to apply for a new card through their school. To address the fragility of the paper cards, city officials previously mentioned plans to launch an OMNY app in the 2025-2026 school year, enabling students to ride using their mobile phones.