Yesterday, I was planning my next few months of Unlimited Ride MetroCard purchases. My 30-day monthly had expired, and I’m spending two weeks in August out of the city. So I figured I would be able to purchase a monthly for May 21-June 20 and a monthly for June 21-July 21. That handy time frame would leave me with about 16 days in the city before my two-week excursion out of the Big Apple. What’s a subway rider to do?
It was then I lit upon the latest offering from the MTA: As part of the fare hike, they instituted a 14-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard for $47. It would be perfect for me at the end of July. It seems, however, that I am among the few straphangers thinking along those lines. As Pete Donohue reports in the Daily News, 14-day card swipes accounted for just one percent of all MetroCard trips in March. Of course, the new card will take longer than overnight to catch on as riders adjust to the flexibility afforded by this card. As Paul Fleuranges, NYC Transit spokesman, said, “One month does not a trend set.” [Daily News]
1 comment
The 14 day card rarely makes sense except for vacation use. Factoring discounts on a pay per ride card, you need to take 28 rides in the 14 days. For a 30 day card you need 47 rides. For a commuter who counts on getting 44 trips for work in a month, it’s much easier to assume you’ll take an extra 3 rides in 30 days than 4 rides in 14 days. Sure a heavy subway ride can still benefit, but I would bet most monthly riders use closer to 47-50 rides than more than 56 rides.