Admit it. If you’ve ridden any MTA service in New York City, you’ve probably held onto a MetroCard with a balance less than the standard $2.25 fare (or if you left town, one that has more just in case you came back).
If you’re on top of things, you refill the card a bunch of times until it wears out, gets lost, or you eventually work the math right and completely zero out the card (those mini “bonus” amounts the MTA gives you when you add money are proportioned to make this really hard). What can you do with that little bit of surplus you will almost always have, aside from paying it forward toward another fare?
Some students in NYU’s Interactive Communications Program are looking to glean those $0.60, $1.85, $0.15, etc. bits and turn them into charity funds. Called MetroChange, the current plan is to collect people’s balances at special kiosks and donate to a new charity at the end of the month.
[Full story here]
I can attest that in my periodic trips to New York, I always get home and realize I have a MetroCard with a few cents/dollars left on it, unless I was using an unlimited ride card. I counted 5 cards in a pile this morning… It’s just easier to get a new one than sort through the old and reload them, so if each of those had an average of $1.00 left over… BAM! $5 to charity. Multiply me by a few thousand New Yorkers who care enough to donate, and some organization gets a nice infusion.
Small potatoes become big numbers when you think of how many people use the MTA – an estimated $52 million in card value goes unused every year due to these little balances, lost cards, tourists who leave and never come back, etc. BIG IDEA: Place these at airports and Amtrak stations and lots of tourists will probably gladly throw their extra few cents toward whatever cause is up that month.
I really hope this succeeds. Great idea!
Trzaska, Andrew 
NYU’s Interactive Communications Program: Metrocard Compost = Donated Dollars. BRILLIANT!
Admit it. If you’ve ridden any MTA service in New York City, you’ve probably held onto a MetroCard with a balance less than the standard $2.25 fare (or if you left town, one that has more just in case you came back).
If you’re on top of things, you refill the card a bunch of times until it wears out, gets lost, or you eventually work the math right and completely zero out the card (those mini “bonus” amounts the MTA gives you when you add money are proportioned to make this really hard). What can you do with that little bit of surplus you will almost always have, aside from paying it forward toward another fare?
Some students in NYU’s Interactive Communications Program are looking to glean those $0.60, $1.85, $0.15, etc. bits and turn them into charity funds. Called MetroChange, the current plan is to collect people’s balances at special kiosks and donate to a new charity at the end of the month.
[Full story here]
I can attest that in my periodic trips to New York, I always get home and realize I have a MetroCard with a few cents/dollars left on it, unless I was using an unlimited ride card. I counted 5 cards in a pile this morning… It’s just easier to get a new one than sort through the old and reload them, so if each of those had an average of $1.00 left over… BAM! $5 to charity. Multiply me by a few thousand New Yorkers who care enough to donate, and some organization gets a nice infusion.
Small potatoes become big numbers when you think of how many people use the MTA – an estimated $52 million in card value goes unused every year due to these little balances, lost cards, tourists who leave and never come back, etc. BIG IDEA: Place these at airports and Amtrak stations and lots of tourists will probably gladly throw their extra few cents toward whatever cause is up that month.
I really hope this succeeds. Great idea!
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Filed under Advertising and Marketing, Commentary
Tagged as MTA, New York City, Public Transportation