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MetroCard Swipes Have 80 Percent Success Rate!
By
John Del Signore
Published May 25, 2011
Modified May 25, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 25, 2011
Modified May 25, 2011
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In an exclusive report, the Daily News reveals that four out of five MetroCard swipes slide through without incident, opening the turnstile to subterranean paradise with the greatest of ease. But of course the MTA's achievements don't sell papers, so the tabloid spins the data to emphasize the system's shortcomings, running with the headline "Swipe and gripe! MTA admits 1 in 5 tries with MetroCard bound to fail at turnstiles." But given the MTA's track record of, ahem, challenges, we think a 20 percent failure rate is pretty impressive!
The MetroCard difficulties were cited in an MTA report on the pilot program for a "contactless" smart card that could put swiping out to pasture. MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan tells us, "One of the benefits of the RFID-based smart card that we are working to implement is that it will eliminate the use of magnetic strip technology and the problem of mis-swipes." This comes as a tremendous relief, because as you know there are nine wrong ways to swipe your MetroCard!
Last year, the MTA introduced the contactless option at subway locations on the Lexington Avenue train line (4,5,6) from 138th Street in the Bronx through Borough Hall in Brooklyn, on eight MTA bus routes (M14, M23, M79, M86, M101, M102, M103 and BXM7), 11 PATH stations (excluding only the Christopher and 9th Street stations), and three NJ TRANSIT bus routes (6, 80, 87). In its recent report to vendors about expanding the pilot, the MTA said the technology would allow different fares for rush-hour and off-peak travel. But the MTA's Charles Monheim insists the MTA is not considering such a move.
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metrocard
MTA
subway
swiping
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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