Please dip your credit card.
Welcome to Urban Caffeine.
My name is Thea and in this video we are going to talk about a piece of plastic that is in
most New Yorker's wallet, the MetroCard.
We are going to talk about what exactly you can pay for with the MetroCard and all
the options you have in terms of fare.
Then we are going to talk about how transfers work when it comes to paying with a MetroCard
we are also going to go in detail how to purchase and reload a MetroCard
If you are a foreigner with a foreign credit card or debit card I highly recommend not
skipping part 4.
Or at the very least if there's anything you should watch from the video it's part 4.
And at the very end I want to talk about how this video might be irrelevant by 2023 because
the whole payment system for the public transit in New York is changing.
Without further ado let's get started.
This piece of plastic is commonly known to be used for the New York City subway but the
MetroCard is much more than that.
Note that this is an MTA MetroCard.
In a previous video I noted that the New York subway is owned by New York City, leased to
the New York City Transit that is part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority and operated
by New York State.
The MTA operates other public transportation systems as well.
Because of this some of these transportation systems accept the MetroCard as the method
of payment.
You can use your MetroCard to pay for the New York City subway available through the
five boroughs of Manhattan as well as the New York City local and express buses, the
airtrain at JFK airport that loops around the airport and connects to the NYC Subway,
the Roosevelt Island Tram which is a tram that travels back and forth from Manhattan
Island to Roosevelt Island, The Path which is a line that goes into New Jersey, the Nassau
Inter-County Express Bus which is a system that extends outside of New York City to the
east, and the Westchester Bee-Line buses which is a system that extends outside of New York
City to the north.
So whatever cash value add to your MetroCard you can use it towards any of these transportation
systems but the same MetroCard can hold both cash value and unlimited rides that can be
used for the subway, local buses, the Roosevelt Island Tram, and the Bee-Line buses minus
their Manhattan express route.
Unlimited rides for the express buses and the Airtrain are available but these need
to be on their own separate MetroCard.
The Path also has unlimited options too, but you would have to get a completely different
card for that.
This because The Path has a different operator but they do have an understanding with the
MTA so riders who are just going to ride The Path on a single ride can use the MetroCard.
If you have both cash value and unlimited rides on your MetroCard the machines will
read the unlimited rides first then the cash value second.
If your limited rides expire, the machine will charge from your cash balance.
If the unlimited rides don't apply to the transit system when you use a MetroCard, like
say The Path, it will charge from your cash balance.
Each of these transportation lines have different fare prices.
For one-way rides, the New York City subway, local buses, the tram, The Path, the Nassau
bus and the Bee-Line minus the express route to Manhattan, all cost $2.75.
The NYC express bus has caused $6.75 for a single ride and the AirTrain cost $7.75.
There are discounts worth looking up like senior, student, and disability discounts
which I'm not covering here but information is available on the MTA website.
Unlike other cities New York does not have zones so you can take a ride from the Upper
West Side of Manhattan all the way to the beaches of the most southern part of Queens
effectively covering 30 miles all for $2.75.
When you buy an unlimited ride for the subway this extends to other transportation systems.
A 7-day unlimited pass is $33.
A month-long unlimited pass is $127.
$33 is equivalent to 12 single rides so if you take the subway or bus more than 12 times
in a 7-day period, then buying the 7-day unlimited is recommended.
For tourists visiting more than two days and are planning to make use of public transportation
it is recommended to get the 7-Day unlimited MetroCard.
For the price of $127 you would have to take more than 46 rides within a 30-day period.
But the 30-day unlimited does come with the advantage of the balance protection program.
If you lose your MetroCard that is loaded with a 30-day unlimited you could simply call
up the MTA and report the loss.
They can look up the purchase based on the credit card or debit card that you used and
refund you the prorated amount based on how many days you have left on that card at the
time that you lost it.
But you can only do this twice a year so still be careful not to lose your MetroCard.
And just because you're living in New York or maybe you're staying here for the next
30 days doesn't necessarily mean you need a 30-day unlimited MetroCard.
Before everybody started working from home, I only went to the office 4 days out of the
week and that was enough for me to consider just paying for single rides on some weeks,
especially on the weeknights and weekends I often would take a Lyft or an Uber.
Another occasion where a 30-day unlimited might not be worth it is if you're vacationing
outside of New York for a week.
That's when it's definitely not worth getting a card that will last 4 weeks when paying
for only 3 weeks can save you about a quarter of the cost.
Lifestyle is different from person to person but it’s always worth doing the math.
Transfers are not really applicable if you have an unlimited MetroCard but a caveat to
that is when you swipe into a station, the machine takes note of when you swipe because
you can't swipe again within 18 minutes of your last swipe.
This is mainly to prevent people from sharing one unlimited Metrocard.
But this is a problem if you enter a station at the wrong entrance and there's no way for
you to exit back and enter on the right entrance.
This is something I covered in a previous video and the link to that video is in the
description below.
But bottom line is pay attention to the entrance sign when you're entering the subway so that
you are sure that is the entrance that you want to go into.
But if you're paying for single rights as you go transfer from subway to subway is free
because you only swipe once and that's to get into the subway system.
Once you're in the system you can make as many transfers as you need from train to train.
But beyond subway to subway you get one free transfer from either subway to bus, bus to
subway, or bus to bus, as long as you make your transfer within 2 hours of your initial
charge.
Just make sure to swipe with the same MetroCard because the time that card was used has been
encoded onto it.
The cost of a MetroCard itself is $1 and this $1 doesn't go towards the fare and is non-refundable.
As mentioned earlier you can load it with a dollar amount and/or an unlimited ride option.
If you are loading your card with just a dollar amount, the minimum initial balance that you
can put on it is $5.50 which is the cost of two rides.
You can keep reusing the same MetroCard until its expiration date that is printed on the
back.
Now let's get into the actual purchasing this much talked-about card.
These are the machines that you will find in the New York City subway stations.
Not all entrances will have a machine to purchase a MetroCard but all stations should have a
machine.
So if the entrance that you went through does not have a machine you can try another entrance.
Maybe it's across the street or kiddie corner from where you're at.
This small machine is for checking the balance on your card or how much time you have left
on your unlimited rides.
Simply swipe your card at the top and you'll see info right here.
What you really need to be looking for is one of these two machines.
The small machine is for card purchase only and the large machines can do both card and
cash purchases.
But be aware it's not uncommon that these machines will run out of cash for change or
simply not accept bills or coins, like this one which says no bills accepted.
Now let's talk about the user interface.
If you have seen my video on how to navigate the subway system which is linked in the description
below you will know that the labeling in stations is very inconsistent.
It goes the same for these MetroCard machines.
And that is a true understatement.
So for your benefit I recreated the interface with all the inconsistencies, misalignments,
design faux pas, and typographical errors.
You're very welcome.
So let's get started.
So here we go.
Like everything else in life, you begin with the start button.
After which you'll get to the language page.
Each machine will have English and Spanish available.
Depending on the location of the machine you are using it will have other languages.
New York City speaks over 600 languages and there are many pockets of dominant languages
all throughout the city.
For example, if you go to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn you will find Russian Cyrillic everywhere.
And if you go to Flushing Chinatown in Queens you will see Korean and Chinese plastered
all over the place.
So if you use a MetroCard machine in Chinatown, you will have Chinese and Korean available
as language options.
If there are special notices on the machines, you will see them on the next page.
For example, this notice.
“No Bills” means this machine cannot accept paper cash but it will accept coins.
When you continue you will get this main menu.
Just don't even bother with the first option.
$9 just simply doesn't make sense.
Three rides is $8.25 and four rides is $11 so $9 is just a weird amount.
Single ride will give you a paper ticket that's not refillable and is for one time use only.
This will cost $3 instead of $2.75.
What the majority of you watching will want this middle option, Metrocard.
This is the next screen once you choose MetroCard and I kid you not this is how the screen looks
with the inconsistent box sizes and misalignment.
“Refill card” are for those who already have a MetroCard and need to refill.
We’ll get to Refills in a bit.
Get Card Info is if you want to know what the balance is on your MetroCard.
To get a brand new MetroCard you select this button.
Then you will have these choices.
“Regular MetroCard” means a card with a dollar amount on it.
“Unlimited Ride” is a MetroCard that has as the label says unlimited rides.
When you pick “Regular MetroCard” you are given quick options.
By the way, you can use the same MetroCard for up to four people this means you can reswipe the same
MetroCard up to four times on the same turnstile to allow up to four people in. This is really
great if you're traveling with family. And if we go back and choose unlimited rides
instead we will have these options. We talked about 7 days and 30 days. The third option
is for Express buses which have a different base rate. We can talk more about Express buses
when I eventually make a video on just New York city buses so stay tuned for that one.
After choosing an option we get into the payment method. You'll see your total due you right here.
Since it's a new MetroCard a dollar fee is added. We knew from the start that this
machine temporarily doesn't accept bills but it does accept coins. Otherwise this will be
a cash button. Say we are paying in cash. The machine can only give back up to $9 in change.
As you insert your money into the machine the amount that you have deposited will appear here.
If we decide to pay by card, this is the screen.
To dip simply means to insert your card and take it out. Kinda like chips and dip.
And to insert means to insert your card and leave it there.
Once you dip your card the machine will ask for the zip code associated with your card
For foreigners who have foreign addresses simply put five 9s.
The machines don't tell you this very important piece of information.
I once saw a German traveler who couldn't get past this point of purchase and that's the day
I learned that German could be a very colorful language.
So let's say we are refilling your MetroCard.
Go through the process again until you get to the main menu.
Press MetroCard then
you will get the refill card option. You will be asked insert your Metrocard.
Once you do the machines will tell you what's on your card—whether it's cash value and/or unlimited time.
The option to add value means to add a dollar amount and to add time means to add
unlimited rides.
If you pick add time, you get these options.
If you pick add value,
you get some quick options or you can add a different amount.
The rest of the interface is pretty straightforward from here
If I missed anything, please comment down below.
And finally I wanted to add this last section because New York city is in the middle of phasing out of swiping
system and moving towards a completely contactless payment method called One Metro New York or OMNY
The goal is pegged for completion by 2023 so you might be seeing a video from me in
2023 on how to pay for the New York subway and other transportation systems.
So subscribe and hit the notification bell for that one. As of now all New York City subway stations
and buses have these Tron-like looking readers and you can use these to pay with your smart
device to have NFC capabilities or your credit card that has the tap and pay capability.
Unfortunately, you can only pay for single rides using this method. If you want a 30-day or 7-day unlimited option
you have to use a MetroCard. I hope you found this video useful. This video is complementary
to the video that they keep talking about in this video about navigating the subway system of
New York. The link is in the description below. If you have thoughts, questions, reactions, please
feel free to comment below. If you want to learn more about urban life and culture, subscribe
and hit that notification bell or at the very least please take a moment to hit the like
button. It's so simple but it really does help out this channel. And channel engagement
is what keeps YouTube channels alive and thriving. With that thank you so much for watching.
Until next time happy New York-ing.