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Metrocard Math! Best card to buy after the fare hike


kaixo

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You are getting it backwards. Getting rid of bonuses would discourage pay per ride card users, rather than encourage them. Getting rid of bonuses would funnel more people into unlimited ride cards, which just like you said above would be desirable for the MTA! More people would get unlimited ride Metrocards that way because the bonus removal reduces the value of a PPR card while the unlimited remains unchanged. Plus the MTA gets the cash immediately instead of in small lots as people reload their cards throughout the month.

 

Here's an example:

39 subway rides = $87.75, with a bonus of just under 6 fares, so 5. Buy 39, get 44.

 

Assume this person thinks they are going to ride the subway roughly that much = 22 times a month, twice on each day they ride.

 

Total cost = $87.75, all rides covered. OR get the unlimited ride card for $89.

 

That person will, if they are thinking, get the pay per ride because it is cheaper.

 

Now get rid of bonuses:

 

44 subway rides = $99

 

Unlimited Ride still = $89

 

That person will now get the unlimited ride card.

 

What I tried to mean was this:

 

Scenario 1:

 

A person knows a 30-Day Card costs $89.

 

He does the math and finds that $89 in PPR will give him a bonus of $13.35, thus a total value of $102.35. This is equal to 45.49 rides or about 45 rides.

 

The person then overestimates his number of trips (thinking he will make at least 46) and buys an Unlimited Card, because, in his mind, he is getting a better deal since the unlimited card allows travel beyond what would be possible with PRR, bonuses included.

 

In practice he makes fewer than 46 trips and the (MTA) pockets the cash.

 

Scenario 2:

 

Bonuses are eliminated. Each ride now costs a full $2.25. 46 rides will now cost $103.5. Also, 40 trips will now cost $90, or about the same as an Unlimited.

 

The person may well decide that he might remain within 40 rides for the month and choose a pay-as-you-go approach. In other words, he might well decide against overestimating his traveling potential, and perhaps deliberately travel less. Decisions about whether to go out on weekends and evenings will have to be made, and any period of time to be spent outside the city will have to be considered. While, as you say, many will still find the Unlimited the best way to go, a few might just choose to switch. The genuine shock of no longer having bonuses (effectively paying more per ride) may itself cause people to adjust their travel habits and travel less overall, making the Unlimited a less desirable option. In other words, when the price of a ride goes up, a person might well decide on reducing how much they travel.

 

I know it doesn't seem to make any sense, but I know people who, if the bonuses were eliminated, would travel less, and then claim the Unlimited isn't good value for money and choose PPR instead. Part of the psychology behind buying unlimited cards is the thrill of "beating the system" and "getting a bargain" since the value of an unlimited exceeds both amount paid and bonus earned for a PPR. If you remove this incentive (i.e. you may potentially be better off assuming you ride a lot), then people will ride less and try to beat the system simply by spending less on transit (e.g. walking to the grocery store instead of taking the bus).

 

Lastly, it is highly unlikely that any move to increase fares by the indirect method of eliminating bonuses will not be accompanied by increases in the price of Unlimited Cards. If the bonuses are eliminated and 46 rides cost $103, expect to see the price of a 30-Day Unlimited go up to at least $100.

 

At the present moment, there is no need to eliminate bonuses, and as this thread shows, such a move is opposed by most.

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Of course it's opposed by most. People never want to pay more for ANYTHING. When the fares were 5c for the IND, BMT, and IRT, the IND (which was subsidized) was able to keep their fares at 5c all through the "era of competition". The BMT and IND HAD to keep their fares at 5c to "compete"...raise it to 6c and suddenly everyone will flock to the IND. That price pressure eventually bankrupted the IRT and BMT.

 

The things that are too expensive in life are NOT subway fares, it's all the other crap. The day that people stop whining about 15% of $2.25 and open their eyes up to the fact that thanks to Bloomturd and the developers they are getting royally screwed on rent is a good day, but the "budget hawks" out there like to ignore the big ticket items and worry where a few cents are going.

 

The state and city are broke as it is. Cut some of the unnecessary crap and increase subsidies to transit...do away with bonuses on PPR cards. Oh, look now TA can't cry broke and can give their workers the wage increase they've earned without wasting money tying up the courts in a legal battle they ought to lose anyway.

 

Then those workers will spend their increased wages, and the state and city will profit from tax revenue generated by them and the businesses they buy from.

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To those riders, quit the whining and keep refilling that pay per ride MetroCard and keep using it until it expires.

 

+1 rep sir.

 

 

The 30 day metrocard, as difficult as it can be to afford sometimes is probably the cheapest thing around if you use the subway/bus often. I actually save $10 buying vs buying a new weekly pass every week.

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