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Unlimited Metrocard fares go up near the end of the month (Sunday, February 27), and the MTA is giving riders a grace period with cards bought at pre-2005 fare hike prices. But not too much of a grace period, so people won't really be able to hoard cards:
- Weekly Metrocards, purchased at $21, are good until March 7
- Monthly Metrocards, purchased at $70, can be used until April 3 only
After those dates, that little black strip on the Metrocard will say your card is not usable. And to be customer-friendly, the MTA is offering refunds on a "pro-rated" basis; "Ask for a postage-paid envelope at your station booth to return your card." So, if you haven't purchased your monthly unlimited card yet, you might want to wait until February 26. Unless you're a really heavy subway user - then needing to buy unlimited weekly cards in the interim might not be worth it.
MTA on the new fares for Metrocards. Oh, and expect more fare increases on the horizon.
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They already upped my next month's LIRR/NYCT Unlimited pass from $200 to $222.
Yippie
At least drivers can still get into Manhattan for free.
last time i checked, cars run on gas and that's certainly not free.
x: last i checked, people can still walk into manhattan for free.
y: last i time i checked, people run on food and that's certainly not free.
awesome comeback.
it is absolutely ridiculous that they do not have tolls on the brooklyn, williamsburg and manhattan bridges.
jt, don't forget shoes. those things wear out quickly with all that walking! another expense we urban commuters have to bear.
carpooling would certainly limit your gas expenses, eatsdirt. but "subwaypooling" isn't an option for those who use the mta. whether I ride the subway with 500 people or 5, I still pay $2.
We Staten Islanders certainly can't drive into Manhattan for free. Correction: We can drive into Manhattan for free, but if we actually want to drive HOME again, we have to pay $8.00.
That is a great point, MT. If tolls are good enough for Staten Island, they should be good enough for Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
Why doesn’t Staten Island just break off from the city then? That should give the Port Authority the excuse it needs to charge them tolls.
Who needs Staten Island anyway?
How does it make sense to delay buying your unlimited pass for 2 weeks? I don't consider myself a really heavy subway user, but there are 10 workdays (20 trips) in between now and February 26 by my count. That means a minimum of $33.33 for 15 days. (Assuming I never go out on any of the 4 weekend days or President's Day).
The new, fare-hiked unlimited pass costs $38 per 15 day period--$4.67 more. That will only buy you 2.8 rides, assuming you buy the 6-rides-for-the-price-of-5 passes.
So if you go out twice in any of those 5 non-work days, you've surpassed the cost of the monthly!
...Right? Did I mess up the math?
i think the idea is to buy the monthly as late as you can so you can use it until the deadline.
But the 30 days start counting down from the moment you enter the turnstile, not the date of purchase. Why else would the last day of sale for the pre-hike Metrocard be Feb 26 and the use-by date be April 3? That's 36 days.
If you're a heavy user, why not get 2 30-day cards on or before Feb 26, use the first one until it expires, use the second one until April 3 then get the prorated refund?
Toyochin, I'm afraid that's just too much planning and energy for us lazy folk. Eh. Seven bucks. I'll live.
If you buy a $40.00 metrocard, you get 4 free rides. So basically you get 24 rides for 40 bucks - 1.67 per ride.
If you buy an unlimited for $76.00 and use it only when you commute you would use it about 42 times a month, which averages out to $1.81 a ride...Basically you'd better be using your unlimited 46 times in 30 days or else you might as well buy a $40 card.
toyochin, would you really trust the mta with your prorated refund?
Ben
Yeah, I was just doing the math in case I really wanted to be super stingy. But I think my current one expires around March 10 so it won't do me any good to get two $70 cards.
Still, I'm getting one last $70 card in Feb and using it through April 3. I should get about a week's worth of refund back.
I know, it's only $6, but $6 gets me 30 dumplings at the Dumpling House!
Tien, point taken. I don't trust them, but I'm curious. Plus, knowing the MTA, there's a good chance they'll screw up and overpay me.