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MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012

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A new MetroCard could soon cost a buck more — and that’s before you even put any money on it.

Under an MTA proposal, straphangers would be forced to pay a $1 “green fee” on each new MetroCard they buy.

The Earth-friendly, wallet-hostile proposal appears in the MTA’s preliminary budget for next year.

The goal is to reduce the amount of MetroCards that are printed, discarded and hauled to the landfill, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

But the surcharge also will reap the MTA plenty of dough — an estimated $20 million a year, according to the budget. Straphangers were not pleased.

“It seems they’re trying to find anyway they can to get more money out of us,” said Quiana Neal, 25, of Brooklyn after buying a MetroCard at the Whitehall St. station in lower Manhattan.

Kathy Green, 51, of Queens, agreed.

“It’s called ‘nickel and diming,’ ” Green said.

Tourists unfamiliar with the rule would get hit the hardest, Green predicted. Regular straphangers will be “forced” to recycle their MetroCards, she said.

“If you’re hitting people in the pocket, you’re going to make them do something,” Green, a training and technology consultant, said.

The MTA on average prints and encodes 160 million MetroCards a year at a cost of approximately $9.5 million, agency spokesman Adam Lisberg said.

The surcharge will generate an estimated $18 million in revenue while printing fewer MetroCards will save another $2 million or so, according to the MTA.

“We want people to use fewer MeroCards,” Lisberg said. “It’s good for the environment and will reduce litter in our stations. Everyone has had the experience of walking into a station and seeing MetroCards littering the ground. If it costs $1 to replace your card, you won’t see that anymore.”

The Straphangers Campaign is on board with the plan.

"We think the $1 charge for new MetroCards will encourage riders to reuse their cards,” said campaign spokesman Gene Russianoff.

The MTA board approved the MetroCard surcharge during the 2010 budget crisis when the authority also slashed service. It was not implemented last year — and its fate is uncertain this year, too.

Straphangers can avoid the surcharge. A newly purchased MetroCard usually doesn’t expire for about 12 months. And until that expiration date, a MetroCard — including unlimited-ride weekly and monthly MetroCards — can be repeatedly refilled.

And the surcharge would not be imposed when a rider with an expired MetroCard is buying a new MetroCard, Lisberg said.

---http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta-proposes-strapping-straphangers-1-green-fee-new-metrocard-article-1.1122750#ixzz21niP5NYb

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(1168806)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Edwards! on Fri Jul 27 02:25:52 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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bull..

What keep using an outdated mode of fare payment when there is smart card tech out there thats far better for riders in the region,AND will save us AND the MTA money overall?

This is another attack[TAX] on the riders TO GENERATE MONEY for them..

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(1168821)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by MATHA531 on Fri Jul 27 03:51:45 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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This isn't new. It was actually part of the last fare increase proposal that was instituted but never implemented. But to charge people $1 for a flimsy piece of cardboard that may cost a t5enth of a cent to print is absolutely nauseating. Now if theyh would enter the 21st century and introduce smart cards they could do much as tfl in London does i.e. charge a deposit for the smart card (although I must say £5 is kind of asinine too for a card tht may cost 25 cents to produce) but with such a card we could have a fare system that, for example, caps at a certain amoun t daily so as not to continue to unfairly penaloize riders who need to make 2 transfers say from bus to subway to bus (as long as it is within 2 hours, I don't understand why you have to pay another fare for that). But the MTA continues to wallow in 1980 technology in the same way they are nowhere near iantroducing countdown timers which have been part of mass transit systems for decades.

But what else do you expect from the NYC subway system?

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(1168850)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by orange blossom special on Fri Jul 27 09:04:02 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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i propose 5 dollars

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(1168857)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by SUBWAYSURF on Fri Jul 27 09:15:48 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by orange blossom special on Fri Jul 27 09:04:02 2012.

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STFU, retard

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(1168870)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Dan on Fri Jul 27 10:36:46 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Edwards! on Fri Jul 27 02:25:52 2012.

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A contactless MetroCard was supposed to be tested on S.I. express buses earlier this year. At least that's what was announced last year. Needless to say, no test, no follow up announcement. Anyone here know more about it?

And BTW, whatever happened to adding wi-fi on the express buses?

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(1168883)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by merrick1 on Fri Jul 27 11:34:02 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Edwards! on Fri Jul 27 02:25:52 2012.

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Don't many transit systems charge for contactless cards? PATH does. I think Washington Metro does. I don't think MBTA does.

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(1168884)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Jul 27 11:37:11 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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To everyone complaining about this: WTF? You seriously can't spare 1mm of space in your wallet for the card? This is a gentle way of increasing revenue while simultaneously keeping stations a bit cleaner and reducing costs. They need more money, would you rather they just add 10 cents to all fares and call it a day?

And if you don't have one and are too cheap of a fuck to pay the dollar, pick up a discarded one and refill it.

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(1168927)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by New Flyer #857 on Fri Jul 27 14:50:26 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by merrick1 on Fri Jul 27 11:34:02 2012.

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Miami charges $2 for EASY card, a GREAT deal. Card is good for three years I think. (Mine are expiring soon and have value - I wonder if they'll take them in the mail)?

With the card you don't worry about cash and transfers are automatically encoded and good for 3 hours. When I was there in 2010, the transfers were good no matter what you did as long as 3 hours hadn't passed. For example, if I went from the 11 to the 87, stopped off, got on an 87, and then the 73 at Dadeland, but never let 3 hours go by between boardings, I paid only $2 the whole time (all buses after the first came up "transfer.")

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(1168946)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Joe V on Fri Jul 27 16:11:16 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by merrick1 on Fri Jul 27 11:34:02 2012.

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Yes, but they last for is 5 years of daily use. Metrocard will not survive one year of daily use. MTA is entitled to a quarter, not a buck.

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(1168948)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Joe V on Fri Jul 27 16:12:45 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Jul 27 11:37:11 2012.

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I have 2 expiring within the next few months, but will treat them as money because I am one of those cheap fucks (and proud of it !).

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(1168955)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by New Flyer #857 on Fri Jul 27 16:38:49 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Joe V on Fri Jul 27 16:12:45 2012.

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Not cheap at all. Perfectly sensible. You put them in the MVM after the expiration date and get the exact amount that you have to the penny back on a new card. You don't have to worry about running out the card by the expiration date and you don't have to lose any leftover cents, ever, so you don't have to figure out complicated math formulae to land on the perfect figure as you just refill and refill until chances are you transfer whatever your balance is at the time to a new form of technology.

To toss them is just silly.

BTW I always carry two at a time too, both with fare on them, in case one malfunctions (yeah I can send it in, but it doesn't pay my fare on the spot).

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(1168992)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Elkeeper on Fri Jul 27 21:26:05 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Joe V on Fri Jul 27 16:12:45 2012.

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Why do they have to expire? I do not understand this, except maybe to screw infrequent users.

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(1168999)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Italianstallion on Fri Jul 27 22:16:55 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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London charges 3 euros for an oyster card. I thought that was pretty outrageous.

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(1169000)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Italianstallion on Fri Jul 27 22:17:29 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Italianstallion on Fri Jul 27 22:16:55 2012.

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Of course, I meant 3 pounds.

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(1169005)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by LA Scott on Fri Jul 27 22:33:22 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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I they don't do this, they would have to find $20 million of fare increases and/or service cuts from somewhere else.
I don't mind paying $2 extra a year ($1 for my unlimited, $1 for a pay per ride).

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(1169007)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Jul 27 22:34:39 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Joe V on Fri Jul 27 16:11:16 2012.

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Easy enough, make an exception that a card that will not swipe anymore should be replaced for free by the station agents... and to prevent any arguments, have it be policy that the replacement be issued any time someone requests one, don't make the station agent try and "fix" the card or bother trying to figure out if it's actually bad...

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(1169052)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by MATHA531 on Sat Jul 28 04:54:27 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Italianstallion on Fri Jul 27 22:17:29 2012.

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No actually it's £5 but it is a refundable deposit not a charge for the card.....return the card and you get your 5 quid back.

Actually when oyster was first introduced, it was £3 but if your initial purchase was a 7 day tticket on the card, they waived the deposit. I have about 5 oyster cards, none of which required a deposit, because each time I went to London and bought a 7 day season ticket, I got a new oyster card deposit waived. Well when they dropped that program, last May, I stopped getting new oyster cards!

So charging works but the oyster card is a nice plastic card that might cost 10¢ to manufacture...not the 5enth of a cent or even less for the antiquated metrocard we use here. When the time comes to graduate to smart cards, something long overdue, then a deposit will be justified. Not for this flimsy thing we have now.

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(1169053)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Jul 28 04:56:16 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by MATHA531 on Sat Jul 28 04:54:27 2012.

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not the 5enth of a cent

What's a fiventh?

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(1169083)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by italianstallion on Sat Jul 28 11:15:45 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by MATHA531 on Sat Jul 28 04:54:27 2012.

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And how does a tourist rushing to the airport after his visit return the card?

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(1169106)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by New Flyer #857 on Sat Jul 28 13:15:58 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by italianstallion on Sat Jul 28 11:15:45 2012.

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If you mean London, I did it after my time there finished and we left the system at Terminal 4. We were early thankfully and so had time to wait the 10 minutes or so that the line ("queue" to be linguistically proper for London) at that station normally takes to return 5 Oyster cards. So yes, we were given 25 pounds (no jokes please) cash on the spot that we spent at the airport prior to boarding the plane.

Of course for this to work you have to have an agent at the airport terminal station who has access to cash and will do this transaction with you. In NY, this would likely take place at Jamaica and/or Howard Beach stations immediately after swiping / tapping your card to board. But I don't really recommend this system. As I've said elsewhere, Miami does it the best: $2 charge for a card that lasts 3 years. I think London's system of deposit results in too many extra transactions, especially at the airport stations, resulting in longer queues.

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(1169117)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by MATHA531 on Sat Jul 28 14:00:32 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by italianstallion on Sat Jul 28 11:15:45 2012.

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The vast majority of tfl stations in Central London are manned (or womanned) in the booking office as it is called. There will be a last trip. If yo're not undergrounding to the airport, at your last underground trip, you turn in the card. At the airport, you turn in the card but you can also hold onto it. It never expires and you can use it for your next trip or give it to a friend or keep it as a souvenir.

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(1169118)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by italianstallion on Sat Jul 28 14:05:15 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by MATHA531 on Sat Jul 28 14:00:32 2012.

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Well, I did hold on to it so hopefully I can use it again!

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(1169219)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by B1bus on Sat Jul 28 21:03:07 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by LA Scott on Fri Jul 27 22:33:22 2012.

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You can refill your unlimited ride also.

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(1169220)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by Spider-Pig on Sat Jul 28 21:04:46 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by B1bus on Sat Jul 28 21:03:07 2012.

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Right, but only with another of the same unlimited.

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(1169236)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by numbersix on Sat Jul 28 21:43:01 2012, in response to MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 27 02:14:27 2012.

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$1 is a reasonable amount for a greens fee. Grass is expensive to maintain.

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(1169237)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by New Flyer #857 on Sat Jul 28 22:29:02 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by LA Scott on Fri Jul 27 22:33:22 2012.

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You don't even have to pay annually. No charge for trading in an expired card. And I don't think unlimiteds will have the fee at all.

Outside of visitors, this fee is purely optional and is more of a penalty for being wasteful than anything else. For visitors, they have to pay the $1 one time only.

Good time to save up MetroCards and hold them for friends incoming to the city if that's a reasonable possibility.

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(1169287)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by numbersix on Sun Jul 29 08:40:32 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by New Flyer #857 on Fri Jul 27 16:38:49 2012.

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If you go to http://www.metrocardbonuscalculator.com/ you can enter the amount on your card and it will calculate the amount you must add to run the card down to zero.

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(1169289)

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Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard

Posted by orange blossom special on Sun Jul 29 08:43:44 2012, in response to Re: MTA proposes strapping straphangers with $1 'green fee' on each new MetroCard, posted by SUBWAYSURF on Fri Jul 27 09:15:48 2012.

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10 dollars, you kan afford it

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