I can understand phonecards or other totally private enterprises writing their own self-serving rules, but this is a publicly-funded, quasi-government agency – and in the same way I believe that lottery tickets should remain valid and cashable, the “life” of a Metrocard seems equivalent to the life of the $20 bill used to purchase it – that bill can be tendered forever.

Does the MTA depend on these card losses/expirations to cover line-items in their budget? Whether it’s one-year, two-years or ten, penalizing the riding public for its inability to use cash for conveyance is just wrong. That the MTA is being lauded for this recent “extension” act is simply ludicrous.