October 7, 2010

A Fare Hike And A Metrocard Calculator

The MTA voted to hike fares on the subway and LIRR for the third time in 3 years.  Ouch.  The main pain will be felt by those with the monthly Metrocards which will jump 17% to 104 clams for an unlimited ride on trains and buses.  That card used to seem like a bargain.  The base fare will rise to $2.50 for single rides but multiple rides bought with a Metrocard will still have a volume discount.

In other fare news, a friend has pointed me in the direction of a useful little website which helps you figure out how to get full use of the money you put on your Metrocard. Figuring out those volume discounts can be a little complicated but this site makes it easy/breezy.  Worth checking out if you get annoyed, as I do, when you are left with random amounts on your card like 65 cents.

Only sixty years ago, 65 cents would have been worth 13 rides on the subway....now's it's less than a third of one.