MTA Revises ticketing policy

NEW YORK (AP) - The MTA is extending the period of one-way and round-trip tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North from two weeks to two months.

The agency also is extending the refund period on those tickets from one month to two months.

Ten-trip tickets will continue to be valid for six months.

A $10 refund processing fee will remain in effect to cover administrative costs.

http://www.mta.info/mta/news/releases/?en=120723-HQ1

Very interesting, and also most welcomed news.

Thank goodness, one of the more boneheaded MTA policies is being reversed.

Everyone: This is certainly good news about the MTA extending OW and RT ticket validity...

I looked at my MTA Harlem,Hudson and New Haven Line timetables that date back into the mid 70s
to see what the ticket policy was then...During the 70s Regular/Peak One Way tickets were valid for
one year and off-peak one ways were valid for 30 days from the sale date...

This policy was changed in July 1980 when Peak/Regular OW tickets were made valid for 90 days/3 months
from the date of sale and a off peak RT ticket valid for just one day was introduced...

In January 1984 Off Peak One Way tickets that were valid for 90 days/3 months were introduced replacing
the one day only valid OPRT ticket...

That was continued until sometime in 2006 when the period was extended to 180 days/6 months...

I remember someone mentioning that MNCR really did not want the MTA 14 day limit and that it
was "forced" on them by the MTA's LIRR faction in December 2010...Is this true?

This is a good move by the MTA but MNCR WOH still has the MTA's best ticket policy...
OW/RT Tickets there are GOOD UNTIL USED and are refundable for 30 days subject
to the MTA $10 refund charge...The $10 charge is a "deterrent" to turning tickets in
for refund unless it is absolutely necessary...Why can't the EOH MNCR and the LIRR
have this decent fare policy?

I realize that there needs to be a "balance" with a GOOD UNTIL USED ticket policy
and the MTA $10 charge or a NJT-type ALL SALES FINAL-NO REFUNDS does balance
this out...I favor the refunds kept along with the surcharge here...

Let's see how this plays out and because of the MTA bureaucracy we should be
thankful to see the 14 day limit go...I can live with 60 days even though the
long time limit of 90 days would have been better because the MNCR and
for that matter LIRR used this standard for many years...

MACTRAXX

When the OW/RT were good for 60 days, rarely did I ever come across ones that were expired. Even more so when they went to 6 months. I think 60 days is reasonable.

MACTRAXX wrote: This is a good move by the MTA but MNCR WOH still has the MTA's best ticket policy...
OW/RT Tickets there are GOOD UNTIL USED and are refundable for 30 days subject
to the MTA $10 refund charge...The $10 charge is a "deterrent" to turning tickets in
for refund unless it is absolutely necessary...Why can't the EOH MNCR and the LIRR
have this decent fare policy?

Yea, I understand having a refund time that expires, but why tickets? I mean, you pay for them, they get used, you have it no more/need to buy another one, where does that custom or idea come from?

I have a feeling that much of the revenue that the tighter policies created had less to do with the reduction in reuse of uncollected tickets than profiting off of people not knowing of or not remembering the expiration date.

Wouldn't part of it also be for when fare hikes are implemented, it prevents people from hoarding scads of tickets at the cheaper price, thus keeping people from screwing them out of $$$? Kind of like when they set a sunset period for Metro Cards when NYC Transit raises fares?

runningwithscalpels wrote:Wouldn't part of it also be for when fare hikes are implemented, it prevents people from hoarding scads of tickets at the cheaper price, thus keeping people from screwing them out of $$$? Kind of like when they set a sunset period for Metro Cards when NYC Transit raises fares?

No. It was exactly the opposite.

Not including the CDOT fare hike earlier this year, the last fare hike that the MTA had control of was Dec, 2010. This was the same time the validity period went from six months to two weeks on one way and round trip tickets. Right before these changes people were hoarding up tickets because they were cheaper and had a longer shelf life. The biggest seller at the time were the off peak 10 trips. These went from a year shelf life down to six months and from a year refund period to a one month refund period.

The way the MTA claims they are going to loose $$$$ with the new changes to come is when the average joe gets on a train to White Plains with a ticket that expired yesterday, he's out the $7.75 because of the $10 refund fee. To add insult to injury now he's going to get forced into buying a ticket on the train at the on board fare ($14). In short that guy just paid $21.75 for the ride.

Yeah but that guy was also hiding in the bathroom two weeks ago and never got his fare collected, or train was so crowded conductor couldn't get through in time(conductor couldn't get through because he spent 3 minutes explaining to customer why their ticket expired).

RearOfSignal wrote:Yeah but that guy was also hiding in the bathroom two weeks ago and never got his fare collected, or train was so crowded conductor couldn't get through in time(conductor couldn't get through because he spent 3 minutes explaining to customer why their ticket expired).

Wonder if that could be used as an argument in favor of either extending expiration time, or eliminating them for some ticket types.

I mean, aside from monthly and weekly tickets, in which a very specific finite time period is set for their use, why do OW/RT and 10-trip tickets expire? I don't get it.

Starting August 30, "daily tickets" (OW, RT, Family, Spec Ev) will be on WebTicket once more.

Travelsonic wrote:

RearOfSignal wrote:Yeah but that guy was also hiding in the bathroom two weeks ago and never got his fare collected, or train was so crowded conductor couldn't get through in time(conductor couldn't get through because he spent 3 minutes explaining to customer why their ticket expired).

Wonder if that could be used as an argument in favor of either extending expiration time, or eliminating them for some ticket types.

I mean, aside from monthly and weekly tickets, in which a very specific finite time period is set for their use, why do OW/RT and 10-trip tickets expire? I don't get it.

No, it's not an argument in extending ticket types. It's the argument for having such a limited window to use the tickets and the refund fee. Example: St Patty's day. The trains get so crowded that the conductors can not do revenue collection. Then they go and attempt to get the ticket refunded and essentially get a free ride. Why should that person get the refund when they took the ride? St. Patty's Day is an extreme circumstance but I've been on plenty of trains that come close.

As far as customers hiding in the bathrooms... Nothing will stop that (except locking the bathrooms). They just want a free ride.

runningwithscalpels wrote:Wouldn't part of it also be for when fare hikes are implemented, it prevents people from hoarding scads of tickets at the cheaper price, thus keeping people from screwing them out of $$$? Kind of like when they set a sunset period for MetroCards when NYC Transit raises fares?

MetroCards each have an expiration date (printed on the reverse), usually just over a years from date of first issue. Remaining value can be transferred to a new card provided before expiration.

Prior to MetroCard, it was common to "hoard" tokens before a fare increase since the same design and type of token would be used for years.

Travelsonic wrote:Yea, I understand having a refund time that expires, but why tickets? I mean, you pay for them, they get used, you have it no more/need to buy another one, where does that custom or idea come from?

One could just as easily ask why one would be holding onto tickets for such a long time without using them? Metro-North doesn't sell tickets for specific trains (like the airlines or Amtrak), so trains never "sell-out." There's almost no advantage to buying Metro-North tickets well in advance. You can buy train tickets from a TVM as the train's rounding the last bend before the station, and still make it on that train. There are almost always open seats, and even if there aren't, you can still get on the train and stand until someone else leaves the train.

If someone doesn't intend to use their tickets in the immediate future, why purchase them in the first place? I could justify giving people an extended period of time to use a 10-trip ticket, but there's no reason to be buying one-ways, round-trips, monthlies or weeklies so far in advance that there's still a possibility the ticket could expire or you'll need to cancel your plans and request a refund.

If it were up to me, I'd eliminate refunds. If someone has a ticket that's about to expire, they could go to a staffed ticket office (or mail it in) BEFORE it expires and exchange it for a new ticket. If fares have risen in the meantime, the passenger would then also need to pay the difference to get the new ticket. Perhaps there's a law which requires a refund policy, and the $10 fee is the best MNR can do to discourage refunds without breaking the law.