This is the dawning of the age of OMNY and the end of the line for the MetroCard. As the MTA brings its new open-loop contactless tap-and-go fare payment system online, New Yorkers have seen readers pop up throughout the city, but most riders still have more questions than answers about this mysterious new system replacing the MetroCard.

I wrote up an overview of OMNY when I covered the launch at the end of May, and for this episode of the Second Ave. Sagas podcast, we’re talking all things OMNY. Joining me for the conversation is the MTA’s own Al Putre. He is the executive director of the New Fare Payment Program and has been in charge of revenue collection at New York City Transit for decades. In this week’s podcast, Putre and I talk all about OMNY — what it is, what it can do, when we’ll get unlimited ride cards and what the privacy concerns may be — as I ask your questions. Give it a listen.

You can learn even more about OMNY on the system’s official site, and you can catch my conversation with Putre via the player below at all the popular podcast spots — iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts and your favorite app. If you like what you hear and have been enjoying the podcasts, please consider leaving a review on your iTunes.

As always, thank you for listening and thanks as well to Joe Jakubowski for sound engineering. I’ve been enjoying producing these podcasts but they take a lot of time and effort. I can keep doing them only through the generous contributions of my listeners so please consider joining the Second Ave. Sagas Patreon. Since this site runs entirely on Patreon contributions, I can keep it going only with your help.