MTA outlaws coin payment on NYC's buses: 'I remember when the bus was a nickel'

This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.

Sign up to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.

The MTA doesn’t want your lousy nickels and dimes.

The transit agency plans to stop accepting coins on its buses at some point next year as it retires the MetroCard and moves over to the digital tap-to-pay OMNY system. It marks the end of an era: As long as there have been public buses in New York City, riders could pay to ride them with coins or tokens.

But as the city and the country head toward a cashless society, some of the copper-rich are being left behind.

Riders will be required to pay with their