NYCTA Fare Bandana

In June of 1993, the NYCTA inaugurated a new era in subway fare collection with the introduction of plastic farecards—MetroCards—in an experiment involving 3,000 riders. 28 years later, the Metrocard is on the way out.

The original yellow-on-blue cards caused a stir: the move was hailed as one of the biggest changes to New York’s transit system since the postwar consolidation of the BMT, IRT, and IND, creation of the New York City Transit Authority and introduction of fare tokens. In 1993, subway officials looked to this new technology as a way to boost ridership numbers and “modernize” a system that to many brought memories of “the bad old days” of crime and spotty service. By 1997, the entire NYC transit system accepted the MetroCard for payment of the $1.50 fare, and in 1999 MetroCard Vending Machines (MVMs) debuted in stations, saving straphangers trouble of waiting for an attendant.

Despite being less than 30 years old, the MetroCard will be taken out of service by 2023, replaced by the smartphone- and contactless card-based fare collection system known as OMNY. Like MetroCard before it, this new technology is positioned by the MTA as a way to modernize an aging system, even though it leaves core issues unresolved: a cosmetic band aid that guarantees an even more difficult task in coming years.

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