MTA 'green fee' cuts down on spare change on MetroCards
The MetroCard is celebrating 20 years of swiping this week, but it has only several years of life left as the MTA devises the next fare payment system. Credit: handout
The MTA's $1 "green fee" for new MetroCards is cutting down on the agency's "loose change" windfall from unused cash on old cards, the city's Independent Budget Office said Monday.
Doug Turetsky, chief of staff at the budget office, said the MTA's November financial plan issued last week shows that leftover money from MetroCards -- listed as "fare media liability" -- is expected to add up to $52 million of the nearly $4 billion in forecast revenue for New York City Transit this year.
Last year, leftover money on MetroCards was $95 million.
However, the MTA has said the new MetroCard fee enacted in March could bring in $20 million.
Turetsky called 2012's $95 million haul an "anomaly" due to riders who stocked up on MetroCards before the December 2010 fare hike.
"It's going to go down this year to pretty much the historical norm," Turetsky told amNY. "The reason behind that is the green fee. People are simply reusing their cards."
'If you don't address demand, you don't address the problem' Police are only addressing the supply, but demand is what fuels the illicit sex trade, experts say. Newsday political reporter Bahar Ostadan has the story.
'If you don't address demand, you don't address the problem' Police are only addressing the supply, but demand is what fuels the illicit sex trade, experts say. Newsday political reporter Bahar Ostadan has the story.
