How To Work the MTA Hikes: Put $22.30 on Your MetroCard
So, the fare hikes are coming. It’s too late to stop them: A single subway ride will now cost $2.75 instead of $2.50. But as any regular transit user knows, loading up your MetroCard with exactly enough for, say, ten rides is not as simple as multiplying the fare by ten. No, no: Thanks to the bonus system, you always end up with a bunch of spare change on your MetroCard, an extra 30 cents or $1.17 or some other completely useless amount. It’s not like you can get that back, either. It’s just stuck there, on your card. Now the bonuses are going up from five percent to eleven percent, confusing all that math further. So what are the magic numbers that you need to avoid this quandary? $22.30, $27.25, and $49.55
This math, helpfully worked out by the Village Voice, will ensure that you don’t have extra cents rolling around on your card, but it also presumes that you’re refilling an empty card. If you’re getting a new card, add a dollar to each of those amounts. You’re welcome. Don’t let the MTA get you down.
