NX Express Posted July 27, 2012 Share #51 Posted July 27, 2012 Are you seriously saying that people would stop using MTA just because they don't get a bonus? And by the way, the MTA's job is not to incentivize public transit - it's to provide it. Policymakers incentivize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share #52 Posted July 27, 2012 Are you seriously saying that people would stop using MTA just because they don't get a bonus? I'm saying the whole point of public transportation is that it should be relatively cheap, or at least cheap in comparison to the alternative... Driving. If it isn't then there's a problem. The bonus wouldn't stop people from using public transit no, but if you keep nickeling and diming folks some of them may just say screw it. I'm better off driving. And by the way, the MTA's job is not to incentivize public transit - it's to provide it. Policymakers incentivize it. Provide it AND promote it... Same crap... If it isn't then I guess the ads they put up about how they're making public transit better should be taken down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX Express Posted July 27, 2012 Share #53 Posted July 27, 2012 I'm saying the whole point of public transportation is that it should be relatively cheap, or at least cheap in comparison to the alternative... Driving. If it isn't then there's a problem. The bonus wouldn't stop people from using public transit no, but if you keep nickeling and diming folks some of them may just say screw it. I'm better off driving. Provide it AND promote it... Same crap... If it isn't then I guess the ads they put up about how they're making public transit better should be taken down. Traffic would be a pretty big disincentive for driving. And I'd guess that the MTA had nothing to fill the ad space with, and it's better to have MTA ads than no ads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubwayStation Posted July 27, 2012 Share #54 Posted July 27, 2012 C'mon, you know what I meant. There may be money I don't use that I had the opportunity to use.All I was trying to say was that you'll never lose money by choosing to add the bonus (adding more than $10), even if you don't spend the bonus. Look, if the MTA made the bonus more useful as people have suggested, I would be completely in favor of it. I'm not going to argue with that. I was just arguing with the idea of "avoiding the bonus" as if it'll save you money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share #55 Posted July 27, 2012 Traffic would be a pretty big disincentive for driving. And I'd guess that the MTA had nothing to fill the ad space with, and it's better to have MTA ads than no ads. In some cases it would be in some cases not. Going back to the marketing of transportation if you will, you make it sound like the doesn't care if folks aren't using public transit. More riders is a good thing for the agency as we saw with the recent restorations. Part of the restorations were possible due to increased ridership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted July 27, 2012 Share #56 Posted July 27, 2012 All I was trying to say was that you'll never lose money by choosing to add the bonus (adding more than $10), even if you don't spend the bonus. Look, if the MTA made the bonus more useful as people have suggested, I would be completely in favor of it. I'm not going to argue with that. I was just arguing with the idea of "avoiding the bonus" as if it'll save you money. Well just to be clear, I wasn't the one trying to "avoid the bonus". The ones who voluntarily do it are constantly giving the MTA those extra few cents, whereas with the way I do it, at best they'll get those extra few cents from me a couple of years down the road (and it'll be when a MetroCard is $0.10 short and I don't get a bonus on those last $0.10 I add). Would I prefer a nice, straight bonus? Yes. Do I think it's absolutely necessary? No. The extra money the MTA gets off the people who don't use their bonuses is more money to provide service and/or prevent another fare hike for myself and the ones who are smart enough to take advantage of the bonuses. On a side note, this charge won't apply to MetroCards bought outside of the system (i.e. At delis, supermarkets, etc). I guess the MTA figures that the more people buy MetroCards outside of the system, the fewer station agents they need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriboroughBridge Posted July 27, 2012 Share #57 Posted July 27, 2012 There's a simple solution: Keep your MetroCard and refill it until it expires... ...or get easy pay xpress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted July 28, 2012 Share #58 Posted July 28, 2012 ...or get easy pay xpress. If they require a $20 minimum, doesn't that mean you basically gave the MTA $20 for free? On second thought, you guys go ahead and get it. It means cheaper fares for everybody else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted July 28, 2012 Share #59 Posted July 28, 2012 My card stopped working today! I had 5 bucks left! Enough for two rides. When I swipe it once it tells me swipe again. I thought it was a read error. I tried to push the turnstile. Nothing. Then I swipe it again. "Please swipe again". I swipe and it doesn't show the normal message. It says insufficient fare! You kidding!!! I try the other one! Insufficient fare. Damn! That turnstile jacked my money! Too bad there was no booth around! , I jumped the turnstile! I'm gonna jump one more time so I can get even! I had 5 bucks on it! I even checked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4P3607 Posted July 28, 2012 Share #60 Posted July 28, 2012 On the other hand, IIRC the MTA reported that it received a rather large sum of money from customers who discarded Metrocards with odd amounts left (such as 45 cents or something similar). Have they calculated how much money they will stop earning from that? ^^And that right there is how I used to make extra metrocard money. I would find metrocards on the ground at subway stations, alot of the time I would find these cards worth $1.70, which really did add up. IMO the $1 fee thing should have happened already, I see WAY too many metrocards lying around subway platforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwell Black Posted July 28, 2012 Share #61 Posted July 28, 2012 In Lisbon and Porto, Portugal a cardboard magnetic card is charged 0.5€ and can be returned until 5 days after it was bought, the client getting the .5€ back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted July 28, 2012 Share #62 Posted July 28, 2012 My card stopped working today! I had 5 bucks left! Enough for two rides. When I swipe it once it tells me swipe again. I thought it was a read error. I tried to push the turnstile. Nothing. Then I swipe it again. "Please swipe again". I swipe and it doesn't show the normal message. It says insufficient fare! You kidding!!! I try the other one! Insufficient fare. Damn! That turnstile jacked my money! Too bad there was no booth around! , I jumped the turnstile! I'm gonna jump one more time so I can get even! I had 5 bucks on it! I even checked! Is that really a wise thing to do to tell everyone you basically broke the rules to get even? What you could've done was get to another station that had a booth and get an envelope and write down the location and issue with the card and mail it in. Eventually in a few weeks you should get a new card back with a refund. THat's what you should've done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted July 28, 2012 Share #63 Posted July 28, 2012 ^^And that right there is how I used to make extra metrocard money. I would find metrocards on the ground at subway stations, alot of the time I would find these cards worth $1.70, which really did add up. IMO the $1 fee thing should have happened already, I see WAY too many metrocards lying around subway platforms. I'm not so lucky. The most I ever found was $2.05 and it had already expired, so I had to send it in and wait 4 months to get a new MetroCard. I mean, I guess bus passengers are more saavy and use up all the money on their MetroCard because the most I find on a regular basis is like $0.05 or $0.10 (and it's rare to even find that). Of course I save the cards, but still. I think the problem with the buses is that you dip it in, and it takes the remaining fare off, so that's why I almost never find a card with money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted July 28, 2012 Share #64 Posted July 28, 2012 Is that really a wise thing to do to tell everyone you basically broke the rules to get even? What you could've done was get to another station that had a booth and get an envelope and write down the location and issue with the card and mail it in. Eventually in a few weeks you should get a new card back with a refund. THat's what you should've done. The thing is that A) It takes a few weeks (or more) to get the money back B) You don't even know if they'll acknowledge the error. They could say "Oh, well our records show that the arm unlocked, so you're not getting your money back". Is it the right thing to do to jump? No, but the MTA isn't exactly making it easier for you to do the right thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted July 28, 2012 Share #65 Posted July 28, 2012 Still doesn't excuse what he did though and 2 wrongs don't make a right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted July 29, 2012 Share #66 Posted July 29, 2012 I'm not gonna wait a few weeks. They already got there money. Goodbye $5! I jumped it. Oh, most of the cards I find on the ground cannot be read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share #67 Posted July 29, 2012 I'm not gonna wait a few weeks. They already got there money. Goodbye $5! I jumped it. Oh, most of the cards I find on the ground cannot be read. With pay-per-rides you can go to the station agent and they can replace your card on the spot, though I'm not sure what happens when monies are accidentally taken off of the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted July 29, 2012 Share #68 Posted July 29, 2012 I try to use my metrocard until it expires, but realistically, it starts giving me more "read errors" than I can deal with after about 6 or 7 months. I swipe my card 4 times per day, which is not an unreasonable amount. I don't want to pay an extra dollar because of natural wear and tear. And I cannot return the card to the in these cases because it will still work some of the time, so they will not give me my money back and most S/A's don't want to give me a new card if the old one still swipes some of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N6 Limited Posted August 1, 2012 Share #69 Posted August 1, 2012 Do realize that a Metrocard is only a flimsy piece of plastic.. over time it gets worn out as you use it.. especially an Unlimited card with lots and lots of usage; more than once I've had unlimiteds crap out on me with the read errors.. Before I retired, I had "Transitcheck" which deducted an amount from my bi-weekly pay check and once a month, I would receive a 30 day unlimited card. Does this mean that people that have "Transitcheck" will have to pay the surcharge as they cannot refill their card as they receive a new one each and every month by mail that they have this deduction? This brings up another problem with these cards as many times, the card would have a problem and I would have to buy a weekly (or sometimes) another monthly card to so that I could continue riding until I received my new card. Again do I have to pay the surcharge even though it was not my fault? Are the machines on the buses that take the Metrocards and provide transfers to the cash paying customers going to be cleaned more often or are the users still going to have problems with their cards as the machines frequently cause the cards to become unusable and the person has to buy another card to take advantage of the bus-subway metrocard transfer privilege? Yes! i do refill my card each and every time I need to place more money on it but I will only do it if there is a station agent working the booth. It is not that I do not trust machines but I prefer it this way even though this method has had its problems as well. Take care of your cards. I had a transitchek back when Unlimited Metrocards were $70. They gave me one TransitChek Metrocard per year. They took out $35 per bi-monthly Check and the card was automatically "refilled". I swiped the card at least 4 times a day, since I took two buses to work. More if I took the bus to get lunch during my lunch break. When College was in Session I swiped at least 6 times, two buses to work, two buses to college, two buses home. On the weekends I used to take care of errands, which typically involved the bus, and would also use the bus and Subway to go to Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc, and I would make short subway trips to get around Manhattan as well. The only "issue" was that the art on the card rubs off. Now, I use a PPR card which I don't use nearly as much, but it lasts until its expiration date and I continually refill it until the MVM asks if I want a new one. I remember showing someone my metrocard, it had the top rubbed off from taking it in and out of my wallet, and they were like 'you need to get a new metrocard" and I said "why?" and they were like "look at it", so I said "it works, the graphic has nothing to do with its function, I'll replace it when it expires". SMH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeystoneRegional Posted August 2, 2012 Share #70 Posted August 2, 2012 One of the reasons I started to get conservative on visiting other places around the city is because of the Metrocard issues. I am usually in Manhattan (under 110th St.) and Brooklyn (north of Route 27 and near the BQE corridor) now because I can at least have an alternative to get into the subway (By walking to 63rd St. Subway Station and using my Metrocard as a XFer). In Queens I can just hop on a bus to somewhere closer to home and call my dad to pick me up or walk home. Because of these Metrocard quality issues, I am now quite against the fee of $1.00 for a new card, it's not worth the money to get a card that is defective and nearly useless, and note I am still kindly calling it a card, not plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokecrazy Posted August 6, 2012 Share #71 Posted August 6, 2012 If you have a card that expired within 1 year, you can get it exchanged at a booth, or at a machine when you ask it to refill the card. Get an easypay metrocard, and do the refilling automatically, or make 1 time payments at home with your debit/credit card. There is a free subway/subway transfer at 59st/Lex and 63st/Lex.. One can enter the station within 2 hours of your swipe and reenter either of these stations, BUT that will negate the bus transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overclocked Posted August 6, 2012 Share #72 Posted August 6, 2012 Have you noticed that quality of the Metrocard itself has decreased overall, the plastic is thinner and thus easier to bend than it was a year ago. I would be behind extra surcharge for metrocard if the quality of the card would allow for prolonged use of such card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share #73 Posted August 6, 2012 Have you noticed that quality of the Metrocard itself has decreased overall, the plastic is thinner and thus easier to bend than it was a year ago. I would be behind extra surcharge for metrocard if the quality of the card would allow for prolonged use of such card. This is true... A lot more flimsy indeed... I hope they at least make them here though and not overseas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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