MetroCard Moneymakers

Georgette Difini sees free transit in discarded plastic. She scoops up “used” MetroCards at turnstiles and trainstations to search for hidden transportation treasure they might contain. She finds money on 40% of the cards but only nets around $5.00 a week. You have to admire her effort even if the results it produces are slice. Of course, no good idea by a New Yorker (no matter how small) goes without its governmental consequences. NYC Transit Spokesman, Charles Seaton, declared that only allows cash consolidation from five cards is permitted per card. Of course, those rules don’t apply to the MTA. They recover millions each month from expired and unused MetroCard funds. The MTA rides again... but not to our rescue... or Ms. Difini's.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written today about an older New York City news headline. NYCo site delays prevented its publication before now. In an effort to entertain and educate this blog’s devoted viewers, 100’s of older headlines will be posted in chronological order until this blog is discussing current events again. Though some stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of mention and viewer comments.

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Transit Becoming A Sub-Way To Commute

NYC Transit defines a delayed train as one that’s more than 6 minutes late to its terminal. In April, there were 4,117 officially reported delays. That’s up 44% compared to April 2007. The reasons for delay include 1. Track work 4,117 2. Riders holding doors 918 3. Guard-light trouble 833 4. Unruly passengers 819 5. Fire/smoke 695 6. Signal trouble 600 7. Sick riders 591. It should be noted that ridership is up from last year. Admittedly, the system will never run 100% on time. Nevertheless, service can and should improve. Significant deterioration of New York’s trains means that NYCTA President Howard Roberts has some explaining to do … and not of the fast-talking or passing-the-blame variety either.

MTA’s Double-Decker-Play Revisited

New York City Transit is considering a trial program to run double-decker buses in Manhattan this year. Howard Roberts, NYC Transit President said, “Back to the future is, at least in terms of productivity, something we would also like to look at.” The MTA is now reviewing several bus models from companies worldwide. The last time these British-type buses were tried on our streets was back in the 1970’s. Today’s “go green” mentality and the unique appeal buses like these have on riders and pedestrians makes this a play, a winning city could use.