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77-872: The MetroCard is a magnetic stripe card used for fare payment on transportation in the New York City area . It is a payment method for the New York City Subway (including the Staten Island Railway ), New York City Transit buses and MTA buses . The MetroCard is also accepted by several partner agencies: Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE), the PATH train system, the Roosevelt Island Tramway , AirTrain JFK , and Westchester County's Bee-Line Bus System . The MetroCard

154-418: A transponder device and/or a microchip mostly used for access control or electronic payment. Magnetic storage was known from World War II and computer data storage in the 1950s. In 1969 an IBM engineer had the idea of attaching a piece of magnetic tape, the predominant storage medium at the time, to a plastic card base. He tried it, but the result was unsatisfactory. Strips of tape warped easily, and

231-529: A MetroCard Vending Machine or at a station booth. Turnstiles for these systems will simply deduct the fare from the value portion of the MetroCard. 30-Day Unlimited and 7-Day Express Bus Plus Cards that are purchased using a credit, debit or ATM card from a MetroCard vending machine can be reported lost or stolen to receive a pro-rated credit for the card. Standard 7- and 30-day unlimited cards are accepted on MTA New York City Subway; non-express buses from either

308-443: A card if needed. It has actually been used to acquit criminal suspects by placing them away from the scene of a crime . The database also stores a list of MetroCards that have been invalidated for various reasons. Reasons include the MetroCard being lost, stolen, expired student, or an expired monthly card, and it distributes the list to turnstiles in order to deny access to a revoked card. The older blue MetroCards were not capable of

385-505: A cloud hosted Google Wallet which contains digital cards - cards that can be created online without having to have a plastic card in first place, although all of its merchants currently issue both plastic and digital cards. There are several virtual card issuing companies located in different geographical regions, such as Weel in Australia and Privacy in the USA. A magnetic stripe card is

462-452: A combination photo ID and MetroCard. It allows half-fare within the MTA system, and on express buses during off-peak hours only. Half fare is also available on the 7-day and 30-day Unlimited MetroCards. "Autogate" cards are issued to persons with mobility impairments and are accepted at wheelchair doors at selected stations. The card back is color-coded to indicate the gender of the card holder, and

539-430: A complete set of the available variations. Collector editions are another way of supporting collectables. They typically are produced in limited amount and contain additional content that can be valuable for a collector. This practice is mostly popular in video games . Early versions of a product, manufactured in smaller quantities before its popularity as a collectable developed, sometimes command exorbitant premiums on

616-577: A full-fare round trip MetroCard from a subway station agent by presenting proof of eligibility. This type of card caused complaints because it took up to three months to replace. The Fair Fares MetroCard pilot program was implemented in January 2019. These are distributed by Fair Fares NYC, which sends letters to eligible residents that meet the income criteria, including veteran students, New York City Housing Authority residents, City University of New York students, and residents who receive benefits from

693-450: A magnetic stripe reader, providing access to run privileged commands. Identification with a digital card is usually done in several ways: Collectable A collectable ( collectible or collector's item ) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector . Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types. An antique

770-455: A newer generation of card that contain an integrated circuit . Some smart cards have metal contacts to electrically connect the card to the reader ; there are also contactless cards that use a magnetic field or radio frequency ( RFID ) for proximity reading. Hybrid smart cards include a magnetic stripe in addition to the chip—this combination is most commonly found in payment cards , to make them usable at payment terminals that do not include

847-430: A possible increase in value. In a financial sense, collectables can be viewed as a hedge against inflation. Over time, their value can also increase as they become rarer due to loss, damage or destruction. One drawback to investing in collectables is the potential lack of liquidity, particularly for very obscure items. There is also a risk for fraud. Digital collecting takes place in the blockchain , and it got popular at

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924-505: A secondary market and sometimes became the subject of "collectable crazes". Eventually many collectable items came to be sold separately, instead of being used as marketing tools to increase the appeal of other products. To encourage collecting, manufacturers often create an entire series of a given collectable, with each item differentiated in some fashion. Examples include sports cards depicting individual players, or different designs of Beanie Babies . Enthusiasts will often try to assemble

1001-611: A smart card reader. Cards that contain all three features (magnetic stripe, smart card chip, and RFID chip) are also becoming common as more activities require the use of such cards. During DEF CON 24, Weston Hecker presented Hacking Hotel Keys, and Point Of Sales Systems. In the talk, Hecker described the way magnetic strip cards function and utilised spoofing software, and an Arduino to obtain administrative access from hotel keys, via service staff walking past him. Hecker claims he used administrative keys from POS systems on other systems, effectively providing access to any system with

1078-508: A student MetroCard must live: In May 2019, the MTA voted to phase out the half-fare student MetroCard and distribute only full-fare cards for students who qualify for a MetroCard. Senior citizen MetroCards are received via application or by submitting the application in person with required ID and copies of proof of age at the NYC Transit Customer Service Center at 3 Stone St in lower Manhattan and act as

1155-504: A subsequent location, if applicable. The MetroCard system was designed to ensure backward compatibility , which allowed a smooth transition from the blue format to gold. Cubic later used the proprietary MetroCard platform to create the Chicago Card and Tren Urbano 's fare card, which are physically identical to the MetroCard except for the labeling. The SingleRide Ticket (introduced to replace subway tokens and single cash fares)

1232-579: A total value of $ 100. Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards can also be filled with unlimited ride time in 7- or 30-day increments. As of 2022, station booths no longer do any MetroCard transactions. The Pay-Per Ride MetroCard is accepted on the New York City Subway; MTA express, local, limited, and Select Bus Service buses; and the Staten Island Railway. Outside agencies also accept the MetroCard, including Nassau Inter-County Express ;

1309-402: A type of card capable of storing data by storing it on magnetic material attached to a plastic card. A computer device can update the card's content. The magnetic stripe is read by swiping it past a magnetic reading head . Magnetic stripe cards are commonly used in credit cards , identity cards , and transportation tickets. They may also contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag ,

1386-620: Is not stored on the card itself. Many video game and amusement centers now use debit card systems based on magnetic stripe cards. Magnetic stripe cloning can be detected by the implementation of magnetic card reader heads and firmware that can read a signature of magnetic noise permanently embedded in all magnetic stripes during the card production process. This signature can be used in conjunction with common two-factor authentication schemes utilized in ATM, debit/retail point-of-sale and prepaid card applications. Some types of cards intentionally ignore

1463-639: Is a collectable that is old. A curio is something deemed unique, uncommon, or weird, such as a decorative item. A manufactured collectable is an item made specifically for people to collect. A manufactured collectable (often referred to as a contemporary collectable) is an item made specifically for people to collect. Examples of items commonly sold as collectables include plates , figurines , bells , graphics , steins , dolls , and art . Some companies that produce manufactured collectables are members of The Gift and Collectibles Guild. Special editions , limited editions and variants on these terms fall under

1540-628: Is a piece of paper with a magnetic strip on the front, and with the date and time of purchase stamped on the back. They cost $ 3.25 for one subway or local bus ride, with one free transfer allowed between buses, issued by the bus operator upon request. SingleRide Tickets do not allow transfers between subways and buses. SingleRide tickets can only be purchased at MetroCard Vending Machines, which are usually located within subway stations, and expire two hours from time of purchase. Because of these limitations, SingleRide Tickets are not frequently used, having been used by only 3% of subway riders in 2009. Although

1617-520: Is also available. This type of card is accepted everywhere the Pay-Per-Ride or time-based MetroCard is, with two exceptions: it is not valid on the PATH, and it is not valid for ticket purchase on New York City-bound LIRR and Metro-North trains in the morning. Reduced-Fare MetroCards (in any variety) are also not accepted at PATH stations. Reduced fare customers who do not have a MetroCard may purchase

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1694-431: Is also big business is memorabilia , which includes collectables related to a person, organization, event or media, including T-shirts, posters, and numerous other collectables marketed to fans; but also includes ephemera from historical, media, or entertainment events, items that were meant to be thrown away but were saved by fans and accumulated by collectors. Collectibles have become a huge market globally coupled with

1771-539: Is as follows: Service code values common in financial cards: First digit Second digit Third digit The data stored on magnetic stripes on American and Canadian driver's licenses is specified by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators . Not all states and provinces use a magnetic stripe on their driver's licenses. For a list of those that do, see the AAMVA list. The following data

1848-574: Is assigned a unique, permanent ten-digit serial number when it is manufactured. The value is stored magnetically on the card itself, while the card's transaction history is held centrally in the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) Database . When a card is purchased and fares are loaded onto it, the MetroCard Vending Machine or station agent's computer stores the amount of the purchase onto the card and updates

1925-439: Is in the form of prizes (items of nominal value packaged with or included in the price of a retail product at no additional cost) and premiums (items that can be "purchased" by redeeming coupons, boxtops , or proofs of purchase from the product along with a small fee to cover shipping and handling). Also, collectables have played an important role in tourism, in the form of souvenirs. Another important field of collecting that

2002-537: Is managed by a division of the MTA known as Revenue Control, MetroCard Sales, which is part of the Office of the Executive Vice President. The MetroCard Vending Machines are manufactured by Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc. As of early 2019, the direct costs of the MetroCard system had totaled $ 1.5 billion. The idea for a farecard with a magnetic strip for the MTA system was proposed in 1983. It

2079-509: Is managed by the NYCDOE Office of Pupil Transportation. In Nassau County, Student MetroCards are issued by individual schools which have pre-paid for the cards. The DOE issues different colors of cards to students who live in New York City. Orange cards are given to students who are in grade K-6. Green cards are given to students who are in grades 7–12. Student MetroCards are allowed on the New York City Subway, non-express MTA buses, and

2156-504: Is opened with either $ 30 or a 30-day unlimited balance of $ 121. As of January 2015, another $ 45 is automatically added for Pay-Per-Ride customers when balance drops below $ 20. To reduce this, a one-time payment may be made online before the balance drops below $ 20. All rules for standard pay per ride or unlimited cards apply, and EasyPay customers can review the account and ride usage online. Reduced-fare EasyPay version converts from Pay-Per-Ride to Unlimited rides (during that billing cycle) once

2233-427: Is stored on track 1: The following data is stored on track 2: The following data is stored on track 3: Note: Each state has a different selection of information they encode, not all states are the same. Note: Some states, such as Texas, have laws restricting the access and use of electronically readable information encoded on driver's licenses or identification cards under certain circumstances. Smart cards are

2310-519: Is the only track that may contain alphabetic text, and hence is the only track that contains the cardholder's name. Track 1 is written with code known as DEC SIXBIT plus odd parity . The information on track 1 on financial cards is contained in several formats: A , which is reserved for proprietary use of the card issuer, B , which is described below, C-M , which are reserved for use by ANSI Subcommittee X3B10 and N-Z , which are available for use by individual card issuers: Format B: This format

2387-427: Is used before value unless the time on the card cannot be applied to the ride taken. The 7 Day Express Bus Plus card is the only unlimited card that can be used on express buses. Unlimited rides cannot be applied to non-MTA transit systems such as the PATH or AirTrain JFK; to use these systems that require a value-based fare, riders can load money on their Unlimited Ride MetroCard by selecting "Add Value" when refilling at

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2464-432: Is virtually unused by the major worldwide networks , and often is not even physically present on the card by virtue of a narrower magnetic stripe. Point-of-sale card readers almost always read track 1, or track 2, and sometimes both, in case one track is unreadable. The minimum cardholder account information needed to complete a transaction is present on both tracks. Track 1 has a higher bit density (210 bits per inch vs. 75),

2541-877: The PATH , operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ; the AirTrain JFK , operated by the Port Authority; the Roosevelt Island Tramway ; and the Westchester County Bee-Line Bus System . However, PATH does not accept reduced fare MetroCard. Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards deduct different values depending on which service is used. Subway, Staten Island Railway, Roosevelt Island Tramway, or local/limited/Select bus uses, cost $ 2.90 per trip and usually allow one valid transfer, though two transfers may be allowed depending on which routes are being used (see below). Although

2618-652: The Rare Pepe or the CryptoPunks are amongst the first cases of digital collectibles. Digital collecting also applies to digital artworks . The urge to collect unusual and fascinating objects is primeval and not limited to humans ( bowerbird , pack rat ). The Renaissance Cabinet of Curiosities was an antecedent both of modern museums and modern collecting. The earliest manufactured collectables were included as incentives with other products, such as cigarette cards in packs of cigarettes . Popular items developed

2695-569: The Rockaway Boulevard station. Finally, a three-hour transfer window applied from transfers from any subway station to the Q22 or Q113 routes of MTA Bus, and then to the n31, n32, and n33 routes of NICE . On December 19, 2012, the MTA voted for the following fare increases: Starting February 20, 2013, people were able to refill cards with both time and value, so that when a MetroCard is filled with both an unlimited card and fare value,

2772-718: The airlines industry (IATA) . Track 2 standards were created by the banking industry (ABA) . Track 3 standards were created by the thrift-savings industry. Magstripes following these specifications can typically be read by most point-of-sale hardware, which are simply general-purpose computers that have been programmed to perform the required tasks. Examples of cards adhering to these standards include ATM cards , bank cards (credit and debit cards including Visa and MasterCard ), gift cards , loyalty cards , driver's licenses , telephone cards , membership cards , electronic benefit transfer cards (e.g. food stamps ), and nearly any application in which monetary value or secure information

2849-578: The AirTrain fare is also payable using a regular Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard, no discount is given for Pay-Per-Ride cards. There is also an unlimited-ride 30-day card that costs $ 40 and is only valid on AirTrain JFK. As of 2023, four types of Unlimited-ride MetroCards are sold: Any Unlimited Ride Card cannot be used at the same subway station or bus route for 18 minutes after it is swiped. Every MetroCard can be refilled in increments of 7 or 30 days' worth of unlimited ride time, or with pay-per-ride value, but time

2926-546: The Department of Social Services. These residents must then register online to receive the Fair Fare MetroCard. Holders of the Fair Fare MetroCard can purchase Pay-Per-Ride or time-based fares at half the regular price. This type of card is accepted only on local/limited/Select buses, the subway, and the Staten Island Railway. Magnetic stripe card A smartphone or smartwatch can store content from

3003-497: The ISO standards regarding which kind of data is recorded in each track, and use their own data sequences instead; these include hotel key cards, most subway and bus cards, and some national prepaid calling cards (such as for the country of Cyprus ) in which the balance is stored and maintained directly on the stripe and not retrieved from a remote database. There are up to three tracks on magnetic cards known as tracks 1, 2, and 3. Track 3

3080-633: The MTA board approved the roll-out of the magnetic farecard system. The MTA opened a request for bids to furnish and operate the farecard system, and Cubic Transportation Systems offered the lowest bid at $ 100 million. On October 30, 1992, the installation of Automated Fare Collection turnstiles began. The farecard system was given the name MetroCard by April 1993. At the time, the first subway stations were supposed to receive MetroCard-compatible turnstiles before year's end, and buses were scheduled to be retrofitted with MetroCard collection equipment by late 1995. On June 1, 1993, MTA distributed 3,000 MetroCards in

3157-743: The MTA logo from the fronts of MetroCards. As a result of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, three free transfers were offered on the MetroCard. The first was between the Q22 , the Q35 , and the 2 and ​ 5 trains at the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College subway station. The second between the Q22, either the Q52 Limited or the Q53 Limited , and the A train at

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3234-476: The MTA voted for the following fare increases: On March 19, 2017, the following fare increases went into place: On October 23, 2017, it was announced that the MetroCard would be phased out and replaced by OMNY , a contactless fare payment system also by Cubic, with fare payment being made using Apple Pay , Google Wallet , debit/credit cards with near-field communication enabled, or radio-frequency identification cards. All buses and subway stations would use

3311-671: The MTA, NICE, or Bee-Line; the Roosevelt Island Tramway; and the Staten Island Railway. 7-Day Express Bus Plus is accepted on MTA express buses. The AirTrain JFK only accepts the Unlimited AirTrain JFK card. The Student MetroCard is issued to New York City public and private school students who live within the city limits. It allows free access to the NYCT buses and trains, depending on the distance traveled between their school and their home. The card program

3388-460: The OMNY system by 2020. However, support of the MetroCard is slated to remain until 2023. In mid-2018, city officials tentatively agreed to start a program in which they would provide half-fare MetroCards to almost 800,000 New York City residents living below the federal poverty line . The program would start in January 2019, and the New York City allocated $ 106 million in fiscal year 2019 to subsidize

3465-516: The PATH charges $ 2.75 as well, it does not offer any free transfers. A ride on an MTA express bus costs $ 7.00, with transfers allowed to or from the subway, Staten Island Railway, or non-express MTA buses. The BxM4C Bee-Line Bus deducts $ 7.50 per trip, and no free or discounted transfers are allowed to or from that route. The AirTrain JFK costs $ 8.25 per trip if the passenger enters or leaves at Jamaica or Howard Beach–JFK Airport stations. Transfers are available within two hours of initial entry, with

3542-753: The Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard is accepted on PATH , the regular SingleRide ticket is not. However, a PATH SingleRide ticket is available from MVMs in PATH stations for $ 2.75, valid for 2 hours and only on PATH. PATH also accepts 2-Trip PATH MetroCards, which cost $ 5.50 and are also valid only on PATH. The Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard can be filled with an initial value in any increment between $ 5.80 and $ 80, though vending machines only sell values in multiples of 5 cents. Cards can be refilled in 1 cent increments at station booths (formerly called token booths), and in 5 cent increments at vending machines. A MetroCard holder can spend up to $ 80 in one transaction and up to

3619-557: The Staten Island Railway. Formerly, there was also a half-fare card that could only be used on non-express buses, discontinued in mid-2019. Red cards are issued to students and parents when there is a school bus work stoppage. Blue and purple cards are issued to Nassau County students and are only allowed to use the cards on NICE buses. Up to three trips per day may be made on student MetroCards, though four-trip MetroCards can be authorized individually for students who must make more than one transfer between home and school. Students who receive

3696-461: The card face is marked with "Photo ID Pass". Later issues of Senior Citizen and Disability MetroCards are uncolored (all white with black printing on back with photo, gold face remains unchanged) for gender neutral requests. Temporary replacement cards are purple with no photo, or blue for Autogate MetroCard holders, and the value cannot be refunded if the original card is stolen or lost. A Senior & Disabled Reduced-fare EasyPay (automatic refill) card

3773-519: The card issuer; discount offers and news updates can be transmitted wirelessly, via Internet . These virtual cards are used in very high volumes by the mass transit sector, replacing paper-based tickets and the earlier magnetic strip cards. Magnetic recording on steel tape and wire was invented by Valdemar Poulsen in Denmark around 1900 for recording audio. In the 1950s, magnetic recording of digital computer data on plastic tape coated with iron oxide

3850-429: The category of manufactured collectables and are used as a marketing incentive for various types of products. They were originally applied to products related to the arts—such as books, prints or recorded music and films—but are now used for cars, fine wine and many other collectables. A special edition typically includes extra material of some kind. A limited edition is restricted in the number of copies produced, although

3927-431: The database, identifying the card by its serial number. Whenever the card is swiped at a turnstile, the value of the card is read, the new value is written, the customer is let through, and then the central database is updated with the new transaction as soon as possible. Cards are not validated in real time against the database when swiped to pay the fare. The AFC Database is necessary to maintain transaction records to track

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4004-590: The end of 1999 347 MVMs were in service at 74 stations. On April 13, 2003, tokens were no longer sold. Starting May 4, 2003, tokens were no longer accepted, except on buses. The following fare increases were implemented: On February 27, 2005, another fare hike occurred: On April 1, 2007, MetroCard started to be accepted by the Westchester Bee-Line Bus System as all of its buses were now equipped with new fareboxes that could accept MetroCard. On March 2, 2008, another set of fare increases

4081-552: The end of 2020 with the NFT craze of 2020-2021 . Collectors can buy, trade and exchange digital items (NFTs) usually associated with images or artworks. These items are usually bought using cryptocurrency , although many marketplaces have made it possible to purchase NFTs using standard credit cards as well. Just like in physical collecting, items can hold value due to different reasons, but they are not necessarily monetarily valuable, rare, uncommon or aesthetically pleasing. The Curio Cards ,

4158-456: The entire bus and subway system accepted MetroCard. On September 28, 1995, buses on Staten Island started accepting MetroCard, and by the end of 1995, MetroCard was accepted on all New York City Transit buses. Before 1997, the MetroCard design was blue with yellow lettering. These blue cards are now collector's items . On July 4, 1997, the first free transfers were made available between bus and subway at any location with MetroCard. This program

4235-421: The first magnetic striped plastic credit and ID cards used by banks, insurance companies, hospitals and many others. Initial customers included banks, insurance companies and hospitals, who provided IBM with raw plastic cards preprinted with their logos, along with a list of the contact information and data which was to be encoded and embossed on the cards. Manufacturing involved attaching the magnetic stripe to

4312-587: The first major test of the technology for the entire subway and bus systems. Less than a year later, on January 6, 1994, MetroCard-compatible turnstiles opened at Wall Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line ( 4 and ​ 5 trains) and Whitehall Street–South Ferry on the BMT Broadway Line ( N , ​ R , and ​ W trains). All MetroCard turnstiles were installed by May 14, 1997, when

4389-464: The following structure: Expired card balance may be transferred to a new card at any MetroCard Vending Machine, up to one year after expiration. After one year the card must be sent to the Customer Claims area of the MTA. The EasyPayXPress MetroCard functions like a pay per ride or unlimited MetroCard, but is automatically refilled from a linked credit or debit card. An EasyPayXpress account

4466-462: The half-fare MetroCards for at least six months. After uncertainty over whether the program would be implemented, the half-fare MetroCards were rolled out starting on January 4, 2019. Initially, the reduced-fare MetroCards would be rolled out to 30,000 residents, though another 130,000 New Yorkers receiving SNAP benefits would also be allowed to receive the half-fare MetroCards in April 2019. However, in

4543-561: The magnetic stripe is contained in a plastic-like film. The magnetic stripe is located 0.223 inches (5.7 mm) from the edge of the card, and is 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) wide. The magnetic stripe contains three tracks, each 0.110 inches (2.8 mm) wide. Tracks one and three are typically recorded at 210 bits per inch (8.27 bits per mm), while track two typically has a recording density of 75 bits per inch (2.95 bits per mm). Each track can either contain 7-bit alphanumeric characters, or 5-bit numeric characters. Track 1 standards were created by

4620-439: The magstripe, magnetic characteristics, and data formats. Those standards also specify characteristics for financial cards, including the allocation of card number ranges to different card issuing institutions. As technological progress emerged in the form of highly capable and always carried smartphones , handhelds and smartwatches , the term "digital card" was introduced. On May 26, 2011 Google released its own version of

4697-432: The many kinds of fare options that the gold ones currently offer. The format of the magnetic stripe used by the blue MetroCard offered very little other than the standard pay-per-swipe fare. Gold MetroCards allow groups of people (up to four) to ride together using a single pay-per-swipe MetroCard. The gold MetroCard keeps track of the number of swipes at a location in order to allow those same number of people to transfer at

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4774-450: The number may be arbitrarily high. Manufacturers and retailers have used collectables in a number of ways to increase sales. One use is in the form of licensed collectables based on intellectual properties , such as images, characters and logos from literature, music, movies, radio, television, and video games. A large subsection of licensing includes advertising, brand name, and character collectibles. Another use of collectables in retail

4851-502: The preprinted plastic cards using the hot stamping process developed by IBM. IBM's development work, begun in 1969 , but still needed more work. Steps required to convert the magnetic striped media into an industry acceptable device included: These steps were initially managed by Jerome Svigals of the Advanced Systems Division of IBM, Los Gatos, California , from 1966 to 1975. In most magnetic stripe cards,

4928-404: The revised plan, only a portion of the originally projected 800,000 residents (around 20%) would be eligible for the reduced-fare cards. On April 21, 2019, the following fare increases went into place: In August 2023, the following fare increases went into place: During a swipe, the MetroCard is read, re-written to, then check-read to verify correct encoding. Each MetroCard stored value card

5005-413: The rise in application of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) which are now used as a medium for digital collectibles sales. The collectables market size in 2020 was $ 360 billion with an estimated increase of 4% by 2028. Digital collectibles may become a reliable revenue stream for creators as NFTs evolve and spread. Collectables can be items of limited supply that are sought for a variety of reasons, including

5082-435: The subway, was also introduced at $ 120. The 1-Day Fun Pass was introduced on January 1, 1999, at a cost of $ 4. The debut of the MetroCard allowed the MTA to add bonus fare incentives, such as free bus transfers to other buses or subways. Half of the ridership increase between 1997 and 1999 was attributed to these incentives. The first MetroCard Vending Machines (MVMs) were installed on January 25, 1999, in two stations, and by

5159-477: The system. In March 1990, the MTA board voted to allocate funding for the magnetic fare collection system. Three months later, the New York state legislature voted to allow the MTA to proceed for its plans for the new system. By 1991, the token technology was becoming dated: almost all other transit systems were using magnetic farecards, which were found to be much cheaper than the token system. In July of that year,

5236-598: The tape to "stick" to the plastic so that it would not come off, but without compromising its function – she suggested that he use the iron to melt the stripe on. He tried it and it worked. The heat of the iron was just high enough to bond the tape to the card. Incremental improvements from 1969 through 1973 enabled developing and selling implementations of what became known as the Universal Product Code (UPC). This engineering effort resulted in IBM producing

5313-423: The tape's function was negatively affected by adhesives he used to attach it to the card. After a frustrating day in the laboratory trying to find an adhesive that would hold the tape securely without affecting its function, he came home with several pieces of magnetic tape and several plastic cards. As he entered his home his wife was ironing clothing. When he explained the source of his frustration – inability to get

5390-529: The unlimited ride portion is used first where applicable. If not started already, the unlimited ride period would begin when the card is next used, and when the unlimited period expires, the regular fare would be charged. On March 3, 2013, a $ 1 fee was imposed on new card purchases in-system in order to reduce the number of discarded MetroCards. However, MetroCards purchased through the Extended Sales retail network carry no new card fee. On March 22, 2015,

5467-498: The value of fares used meet or exceed the cost of a reduced-fare 30-Day Unlimited Ride card. Express bus fares do not contribute, and EasyPay cannot be used on PATH trains. The AirTrain JFK Discount MetroCard offers 10 trips on AirTrain JFK at $ 25. This card can only be purchased at specially marked MetroCard Vending Machines. It can be refilled, and once done so, becomes a Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard. However, although

5544-489: Was developed by the banking industry (ABA). This track is written with a 5-bit scheme (4 data bits + 1 parity), which allows for sixteen possible characters, which are the numbers 0–9, plus the six characters  : ; < = > ?  . (It may seem odd that these particular punctuation symbols were selected, but by using them the set of sixteen characters matches the ASCII range 0x30 through 0x3f.) The data format

5621-485: Was implemented: On June 28, 2009, the agency had its second fare hike in as many years: On December 30, 2010, the bonus value for Pay-Per-Ride decreased to 7% for every $ 10, and the 1-Day Fun Pass and the 14-Day Unlimited Ride were discontinued altogether. Additionally: In 2012, the MTA allowed advertisements to be printed on the fronts of MetroCards. The backs of MetroCards had already been used for advertisements since 1995. This change meant that advertisers could remove

5698-495: Was introduced in 1993 to enhance the technology of the transit system and eliminate the burden of carrying and collecting tokens . The MTA discontinued the use of tokens in the subway on May 3, 2003, and on buses on December 31, 2003. The MetroCard is expected to be phased out by 2025. It will be replaced by OMNY , a contactless payment system where riders pay for their fare by waving or tapping credit or debit bank cards , smartphones , or MTA-issued smart cards . The MetroCard

5775-516: Was invented. In 1960, IBM built upon the magnetic tape idea and developed a reliable way of securing magnetic stripes to plastic cards , as part of a contract with the US government for a security system. A number of International Organization for Standardization standards, ISO/IEC 7810 , ISO/IEC 7811 , ISO/IEC 7812 , ISO/IEC 7813 , ISO 8583 , and ISO/IEC 4909 , now define the physical properties of such cards, including size, flexibility, location of

5852-450: Was originally billed as MetroCard Gold. Card colors changed to the current blue lettering on goldenrod background. On January 1, 1998, bonus free rides (10% of the purchase amount) were given for purchases of $ 15 or more. On July 4, six months later, 7-Day and 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCards were introduced, at $ 17 and $ 63 respectively. A 30-day Express Bus Plus MetroCard, allowing unlimited rides on express buses in addition to local buses and

5929-405: Was the "highest priority" for then-MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch . The card would replace the tokens that were, at the time, used to pay transit fares. This plan was generally supported by the public. In 1984, Ravitch's successor Bob Kiley said that he would try to create a system for the new farecards within the next four years. However, bureaucratic actions and disagreements delayed the rollout of

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