From: grammatim@verizon.net   
      
   On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 9:45:59 PM UTC-5, jme...@verizon.net wrote:   
   > On Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 11:07:36 PM UTC-5, Peter T. Daniels wrote:   
   > >    
   > > The news reports are saying you get an 11% discount on each $5.50   
   purchase,    
   > > which doesn't sound like it's right.   
   >        
   >       
   > You're correct: they're phrasing it badly. MTA adds extra to the   
   pay-per-ride card when you (re)fill it, which they call a bonus. There's a   
   minimum purchase to get that bonus--you don't get anything if you add, say, 65   
   cents to "make it come out even."    
   The same amount is deducted from the card for each ride, in any event.   
      
   That's exactly how it's always worked.   
      
   If they mean that the minimum to get a bonus is now only $2.50, or one round    
   trip, they should say so.   
      
   What it sounds like is that you only get a bonus if you buy $5.50 or $11 or    
   $16.50 etc.   
      
   (and 11%?? First it was 10%, currently it's 5%.)   
        
   > Does it make sense to increase the fare if you're going to give away more in   
   bonuses? Yes, if you can fool the public into putting as much money as   
   possible onto those Metrocards, giving the MTA an enormous cash float every   
   day. If you buy a monthly    
   card, they have a good chunk of your money for three weeks before providing   
   any service for it. Even so, if you travel a lot, a monthly card is the best   
   way to go, because it can bring your average cost per trip way down.   
      
   "Fool"? Your last sentence is exactly the point.    
      
   However, the point is being made that this system benefits the wealthy -- who    
   can afford a $116 purchase once a month -- over the poor, for whom that might    
   represent half a weekly paycheck.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)