MTA Disability Card: Eligibility, Application, and Benefits

The MTA disability card, officially the Reduced-Fare OMNY card, gives New Yorkers with qualifying disabilities half-price rides on subways, buses, and the region’s commuter railroads. You pay $1.50 instead of the $3.00 base fare on subways and local buses, and up to 50% off peak one-way tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. To get one, you apply in person or by mail with medical documentation. There is no online application.¹

Who Qualifies

You can apply if you have any one of the following:¹

Medicare benefits received for any reason other than age
A serious mental illness combined with Supplemental Security Income
Blindness
Deafness or hearing loss
An ambulatory disability
A cognitive disability
Another physical disability

If you have Medicare only because you turned 65, this is not your program. You apply through the senior citizen reduced-fare program instead.² Every application is reviewed by an MTA examiner, who may reach out for more information before deciding.¹

How to Apply

Whether you apply in person or by mail, you need three things: valid photo ID, proof of disability, and (for mail applications) a passport-style photo measuring 1½ by 2 inches with your name written on the back.¹

Acceptable ID includes a driver’s license from any state, a passport from any country, an IDNYC card, a state photo ID, or a birth certificate or Medicare card paired with a photo ID.³

For proof of disability, most applicants need a physician or licensed healthcare provider to complete Section 2 of the application form, certifying the specific medical criteria for the condition claimed. The full list of acceptable documents is on page 5 of the form. If you qualify through Medicare, you can skip the physician certification: submit a copy of your Medicare card and check the corresponding box.²

Applying In Person

Bring your ID and documentation to any of these locations:⁴

MTA Customer Service Centers inside select accessible subway stations across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, staffed 24 hours
3 Stone Street in Lower Manhattan, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed holidays
The St. George Staten Island Railway station, weekdays 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
MTA Mobile Sales vans, which rotate through neighborhoods on a published schedule¹

Individualized assistance is available at these locations. Same-day card issuance is offered to senior applicants in some cases but is not guaranteed for disability applicants.¹

Applying by Mail

Download the “Application for MTA Reduced-Fare Program for People with Disabilities” from mta.info, or call 511 to have one sent. Mail the completed form with your ID copy, disability documentation, and passport-style photo to:

MTA New York City Transit
Attn: Reduced Fare Program
130 Livingston St
Brooklyn, NY 11201-9625

Mail applications can take up to three months to process before your card arrives.¹

What the Card Gets You

Subway, Staten Island Railway, local, limited, and Select Bus Service: $1.50 per ride, half of the $3.00 base fare.¹
Express bus: $3.60 per ride, down from $7.25. The reduced express bus fare is not available during weekday peak hours, 6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.¹
LIRR and Metro-North: Up to 50% off the full one-way peak fare on single tickets, available at all times except certain weekday morning peak periods. The onboard ticket surcharge does not apply to reduced-fare riders.⁵

On the commuter railroads, a personal care attendant can ride free when accompanying a rider with a disability. The attendant may be asked to show identification confirming employment by a PCA agency.⁶

Using the Card

New applicants receive a Reduced-Fare OMNY card. You tap it at the reader and pay per ride from a loaded balance.⁷

You can add funds at OMNY vending machines in subway stations, at participating retailers including Walgreens, CVS, and 7-Eleven, or online through a free account at omny.info. Setting up an account also lets you turn on automatic refills, check your balance, track your fare cap, and freeze a lost card right away.⁸

Fare capping is built in. Once you pay for 12 trips in a rolling seven-day window, the rest of that week’s rides are free, which caps subway and local bus spending at $18.00 per week. Capping covers the subway, buses, Staten Island Railway, Roosevelt Island Tram, and Hudson Rail Link.⁷

You can also link your reduced-fare status to a personal credit or debit card or a mobile device instead of using the dedicated card, but only one payment method can be active at a time. If you move your benefit to a personal card or device and later switch to the dedicated Reduced-Fare OMNY card, you cannot switch back.⁷

Renewal, Recertification, and Replacement

The card carries an expiration date on the back. As long as you have been actively using it, the MTA sends a replacement automatically before it expires. You may also be asked to recertify your disability status four years after your benefit was first issued, and your eligibility ends if your qualifying disability resolves.²

Lost or stolen cards can be suspended immediately online through a registered OMNY account, or by calling the OMNY Call Center at 877-789-6669 with the card number. To get a physical replacement with your old balance moved over, visit a Customer Service Center in person.⁷

What the Card Does Not Cover

The reduced-fare card does not discount tolls on MTA bridges and tunnels or on the Congestion Relief Zone. A separate program, the Individual Disability Exemption Plan (IDEP), can exempt one registered vehicle from the Congestion Relief Zone toll when it is transporting a person with a disability, and it requires its own E-ZPass NY account and annual recertification.⁹

For general questions about the reduced-fare program, call 511 and say “MTA,” then “Subway and Buses.” Relay service is available through 711.³

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MTA. Reduced Fare
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MTA. Application for MTA Reduced-Fare Program for People With Disabilities
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ACCESS NYC. MTA Reduced-Fare Program
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MTA. Customer Service Centers
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MTA. LIRR and Metro-North Fares
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MTA. MTA Railroads Accessibility
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MTA. Reduced-Fare OMNY
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OMNY. OMNY Card
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MTA. Individual Disability Exemption Plan