Pick up a couple pennies off the ground every day for a year and you'll end up with a lot of money. Pick up a few abandoned MetroCards you find in the subway or on the streets for a year, and you'll end up with more than $50 million.
Just ask the MTA. An estimated $53.1 million will go unclaimed on expired MetroCards this year, according to an MTA estimate. That’s the largest amount of unclaimed rides ever. With the new fare structure introduced last year, many riders are tossing out their MetroCards because they're not sure what to do with the pennies or dimes they have left.
"I don't know why people toss them away," frequent rider Tway Smith, 60, told the Daily News.
We don't understand it either. Don't people know they can bring their pile of left-over MetroCards to the nearest token booth to consolidate their fares? They should. The savings add up.
Smith, a self-employed tour guide, said he collects the MetroCards from subway floors and takes them to the station agent to put it all on one card.
"About 10 percent of the cards have some money, whether it's a nickel or dollar," Smith told the News. "When it adds up to $2.25, it's another ride."
The MetroCard bonus was 20 percent before the fare changed. Riders were credited with six rides when they paid for five, but now with the 15 percent bonus, riders are left with pocket-change amounts on their cards.
Unclaimed balances have varied over the past few years, but the trend in general has gone up, the authority's budgets show. The budgets showed that the authority took in close to $21 million in 2004 and almost $40 million last year.
An MTA spokesman believed the record windfall was not completely a result of the unused small-change bonuses, the News reported. He believed the overall fare increase contributed to the unexpected gain.
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But the small pocket change still adds up, so don’t be so fast to rid yourself of the gold-colored fare card. If there’s a nickel’s worth left on your card, go redeem it.
