WHO GIVES A SHIT: Metro Card Edition

People’s metro card preferences fascinate me. Math scares the hell out of me. When I saw this post from the nerderific blog I Quant NY I broke out into an edge-of-my-seat cold sweat cause it deals with both. Yeah ok, not really but I do think this IS kinda interesting.

 

How many times have you run down to the subway right in time to see “INSUFFICIENT FUNDS” followed by the piss warm breeze that means you’re missing your train? If you’re one of those people who don’t buy a monthly card, you just pick one a pre-selected amount that pop up on the screen, like I do, right? RIGHT?You know, like these:

 

Photo via I Quant NY

I’m sure a bunch of you are saying, no dumbass we get Unlimited’s like most of the city and just ride the shit of the MTA for 30 days straight. Well, I was a Monthly Unlimited card carrier until I spent a majority of my time working from home. Then all that $112 I was forking over to the MTA MAN seemed like a waste. In July, I switched over to the easy-breezy $40 metro card thinking, why the hell not? It’s not timed But according to I Quant NY’s Ben Wellington those pre-set amounts are set up deliberately to scam you. 

Three quick options.  But wait a minute.  One button leaves you with the same $9.45 card, and gives a remainder of $1.95 after just three uses. The next one is even more frustrating: you end up with a $19.95 card, leaving a remainder after 7 uses of $2.45!   That’s right, the nickel we were talking about earlier.  The last option does not leave you much better off.   You’ll get a $40.95 card, which leads to $0.95 on your card after you use 16 rides.  So all three buttons presented leave quite a bit of “insufficient fare” on the card. 

MTA why do you gotta play us like that? Think of all those poor bastard tourist who put way too much money on their metro card right before they go home or when you swipe through and discover you have 5 cents left so you run to the machine, choose the preset 20 bucks and perpetuate the cycle. That’s money in the bank for Big Transit (that’s not a thing, I made it up… I’m pretty sure all transit is big by design).   

 

The solution? According to Wellington, it’s math <shudder>.  

 

Math not done by me but by I Quant NY

It’s as simple as selecting “other amounts” and sticking it to ‘em by entering either $9.55, $19.05 or $38.10. If you manually input either amount, those little balances should disappear from your metro card. 

 

Honestly, does anyone give a shit? How do you metro card? Do you go whole hog with Unlimited cards, do you choose a preset amount or did you know this all along?