east village idiot

The MTA, naturally, approved the fare hike proposal that was opposed by just about everyone on the face of the earth - except government bigwigs who rarely ride the subway. Naturally, public agencies don’t listen to the public at all and just go about stiffing every single New Yorker and giving those obnoxious tourists a pass.

I mentioned last week that even New Yorkers who don’t buy a pass would get screwed, because the new bonus structure (15% instead of 20%) would leave multi-ride cards with loose change on them. For example, $7 - the bare minimum to qualify for the bonus - will give you a $8.05 card. Where will those five cents go? Well, you’ll probably lose your card or wear it out before you can accumulate enough money for a ride.

Right now, with the current bonus system, at $10, you get a free ride. It’s a nice, round number, and a fairly reasonable amount of money to carry on a Metrocard. So, naturally, the solution to this “loose change” problem after the fare hike would be to buy a card at a nice, round number that has a free ride on it. But you can’t. Here’s why.

First, here’s a new Metrocard with one free ride on it:

You can’t do it. Metrocard Vending Machines will not let you purchase a $13.34 Metrocard, because it only dispenses change in quarters and dollar coins. So, there’s absolutely no way to buy a Metrocard with a free ride - and even if you could, you’d still be left with a $15.34 Metrocard - 68 cents short of another ride.

Now, let’s try two free rides:

Like the Metrocard with one free ride, you can’t pull this one off at a Metrocard Vending Machine, either. You’re left with loose change again.

Your next option is a Metrocard with 3 bonus rides:

This one is possible. For $40.00, you get 3 free bonus rides. But it’s four times more expensive to get an even bonus than it was under the old fare structure.

And here’s the kicker: unlike the expensive monthly passes with insurance, pay-per-ride Metrocards are treated like cash. If you lose them, or they’re stolen, you’re out that money. People know this, and naturally, they don’t keep too much money on them. Keeping $40 on a flimsy piece of card stock that can easily be lost is not exactly the smartest thing to do. But it’s your only option if you don’t want to become the MTA’s newest philathropist - letting your hard-earned nickel, dime, or dollar-fifty sit on a useless Metrocard at the benefit of the MTA.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Subway Stupidity. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.