New York Minute 117 - Metro Card Machine

New York bus and subway fares are paid with a little plastic card called a Metro Card. It’s the size of a credit card, but it’s about as thin as a sheet of high quality paper. The cards last for a year. You can recharge them, i.e. add more money, at a booth with a ticket agent or at a special machine. Many stations don’t have agents. In those cases, you have to use the machine.

This morning, I found myself standing in line waiting to recharge my card. A young lady was using the machine ahead of me. She added twenty dollars to her Metro Card by inserting one-dollar bills into the machine. Every time the machine ingests a bill, it waits for a few seconds while it verifies the authenticity and value of the bill. 

I don’t know where this young lady works, but she needs to find a job where they pay better tips.

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