Why? Well, simply because riders would rather buy a new card for $1, than keep their old metrocard which provides them with subway rides. The background to this story is that metrocards did cost money to fill, but they did not cost money by themselves. In order to save $2 million dollars in clean-up costs, the MTA sanctioned a new $1 cost for every new metrocard purchased. Because they wanted to go "greed;" I mean: "green."
The idea was that people would stop throwing them away or directly on the ground like camel spit and at the same time, the MTA would gain needed revenue (my @ss). Well, the revenue part happened, I'll give 'em that.
What did you just pay $1 for? Something with the durability of butter.
So what do people do with 'em now? They still toss 'em out. This is why you see them on the ground all of the time. Here's something you may not know:
If you see these cards at the subway station, chances are good that someone tried to hitch a ride on the 'ol steel beast and found out that their finances were not in order. So they tossed the card.
However... another scenario is that since these cards are so flimsy... people take items out of their pocket or wallet and they tend to fall out. So when you see these cards in other locations, it's not like people have just delayed tossing... they have likely lost their card. Their card loss = your gain. I recently found one which was a 30-day Unlimited pass which still had over a week left.
Also: people sometimes throw them out because there is not enough fare to ride the train. Because the MTA... in their infinite wisdom, gives you a bonus 50 cents when you purchase $10 worth of rides. Which is pretty... useless. So some cards that are found around may have money on them. Then you simply ask the grumpy old buggars in the booth to combine cards, and you have yourself a ride. Well, aren't you the wise one?
You know what they say... A penny saved...
... isn't much actually. It's a penny. You can't do shit with a penny.
That's the quote, right? Word for word.
And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.
I guess the other half is brute force?
- Timmy Daniels
Stay Alert
Sources: Click here to view the article online
