New York City residents who are 65 or older can apply for the MTA senior citizen reduced-fare card in person at a Customer Service Center and walk out the same day with a Reduced-Fare OMNY card, or apply by mail and wait up to three months. The card cuts the subway and local bus fare in half, from $3.00 to $1.50 per trip, with smaller discounts on express buses and the commuter railroads.1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
What You Need to Bring
The main thing you’re proving is that you’re 65 or older. The MTA accepts any one of these as proof:1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
- A valid driver’s license (or legal equivalent) from any state
- A valid passport from any country
- An IDNYC card
- A valid state photo ID
- A birth certificate, paired with a separate photo ID
- A Medicare card, paired with a separate photo ID
A birth certificate or Medicare card by itself won’t do the job, because neither shows your photo. The other four options carry both your picture and your date of birth, so one is enough on its own.
Photo Requirements
The application also needs a passport-style photo, 2 inches by 1.5 inches. Face the camera directly and don’t wear a hat or sunglasses that hide your features. If you apply in person, staff at the Customer Service Center will take the photo for you at no charge, so you don’t need to bring one. If you apply by mail, include the photo with your paperwork.1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
Applying in Person
This is the fastest route. Seniors 65 and older who apply in person typically receive a Reduced-Fare OMNY card the same day.1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program Bring your ID; staff handle the photo and the paperwork.
You can apply at:
- Customer Service Centers inside select subway stations, which are staffed around the clock2MTA. MTA Announces Expansion of Customer Service Centers
- 3 Stone Street in Lower Manhattan, weekdays only3MTA. Customer Service Centers
- The St. George station on the Staten Island Railway3MTA. Customer Service Centers
- Mobile Sales vehicles when they visit your neighborhood1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
Applying by Mail
If a Customer Service Center isn’t practical for you, download the senior citizen application from the MTA website, fill it out, and mail it along with your passport-style photo and a photocopy of your ID to:1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
MTA New York City Transit
Attn: Reduced Fare Program
130 Livingston St
Brooklyn, NY 11201-9625
Don’t send your application to 3 Stone Street; that address is for walk-ins only. Use a mailing method with tracking so you can confirm delivery. The online application portal is not currently available, so mail and in-person are the only two options.1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program
How Long It Takes
In person, you generally receive the card before you leave. By mail, the current wait is much longer. As the MTA moves Reduced-Fare customers from MetroCard to OMNY, new mail applicants may wait up to three months for a card.1MTA. Reduced-Fare Program If you need the fare discount soon, apply in person.
After You Get the Card
Once your Reduced-Fare OMNY card arrives, register it at omny.info. A registered account lets you check your balance, track the weekly fare cap, set up automatic refills, and suspend the card if it’s lost or stolen.4MTA. Reduced-Fare OMNY
Reduced-Fare OMNY cards get a weekly fare cap of $17.50. Once you spend that amount in a rolling seven-day window starting from your first tap, every additional ride that week is free.5OMNY. Weekly Fare Cap At $1.50 per ride, the cap kicks in after roughly 12 trips.
If the card is lost or stolen, visit a Customer Service Center for a replacement; your remaining balance at the time of replacement transfers to the new card. If the card is linked to an OMNY account, log in at omny.info first and suspend it so no one else can use the balance. If you never linked it, call the OMNY Call Center with the card number to suspend it.4MTA. Reduced-Fare OMNY That protection is the strongest reason to register the card the day you receive it.
If You Already Have a Reduced-Fare MetroCard
As of January 1, 2026, MetroCards can no longer be purchased or refilled. Existing MetroCards will keep working for a limited time in 2026, but the MTA has not announced the exact cutoff.6MTA. MetroCard Seniors who already hold a Reduced-Fare MetroCard can switch to OMNY at any Customer Service Center. That transition is what’s slowing mail applications, and it’s one more reason to handle the application in person if you can.