A Brief History Of How New Yorkers Have Paid For The Subway (Whitehall: transfer)

[Aeran]

More NYC history. I remember those subway tokens that were phased out for the Metrocard (that was not popular at first). Bought them in advance, kept a collection of them & placed them in some huge mug right by the door. I think I still have a couple of them somewhere... Ah, memories.

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertain...content=202216

On January 6th, 1994, subway tokens began their long goodbye from the city's transit system upon the arrival of "something called a MetroCard," as WABC 7 anchor Diana Williams declared during a broadcast that day. Upon its introduction, the cards were only available at two Lower Manhattan stations, the Whitehall and Wall Street stations (on the 4, 5, N, and R lines), but the goal was to have all subway stations outfitted with MetroCard turnstiles by 1995.

The move was not only meant to replace the cumbersome payment method — it was to make mass transit more accessible with fare incentives.

One big change the MetroCard heralded was an increase in bus trips to/from subway stations: Thanks to the free transfers it allowed (given the cards could store payment data), riders who had previously chosen a long walk were now hopping on the bus at no extra charge. This was something that straphanger groups had been pushing for at the time...

[prospectheightsresident]

I miss the tokens. I used them as cash at the local corner stores and elsewhere.

[Hannah5555]

I still have a couple, too, in different sizes.

[90sSitcom]

The move was not only meant to replace the cumbersome payment method — it was to make mass transit more accessible with fare incentives.

Now we have no fair incentives and actually have to pay more for the rides since you need to buy a metrocard.