I realized recently that I had accumulated four Metrocards for the NY subway system, three of which had less that the minimum for a fare. Someone had mentioned that you could move the funds onto one card, but not at the automated kiosks. To do so, you have to stand in line at a teller booth, and once I was there, I was informed that there is a limit: up to four cards. Then I went through a truly astonishing procedure, where I swiped the cards on a reader that was outside the teller booth, told her the amounts, and handed her the cards. She then did something with the card inside the booth, and gave me one card back. It took maybe ten minutes.
Obviously, the MTA does not want to make it easy to get back all the fragmentary amounts on the mazillion of Metrocards purchased every year. In fact it turns out the $52M in unused fares falls into the hands of the MTA every year. Now, some socially conscioius NYU students have an idea to divert those less-than-$2.25 amounts to good causes:
Zak Stone via Good
A new project from a trio of New York University students seeks to transform that monumental sum into a public good. MetroChange is their concept for a charity platform that would make it simple for subway riders to donate spare change to nonprofits. With a swipe at MetroChange kiosks set up in highly-trafficked subway stations around the city, subway riders could scan their card to see how much change was left. Then, with the push of a button, they could donate the balance. At the end of every month, MetroChange would turn that change into social change by donating it to charity.
According to MetroChange, the idea would work best if the kiosks targeted tourists, who are less likely to refill their cards. But while it sounds like a simple, effective idea, founders Stepan Boltalin, Genevieve Hoffman, and Paul Maywill need to convince a key partner to sign on: the MTA. According to MetroChange’s blog, they see two likely ways to partner: The MTA could agree to return the “unused value back to the community where it originated” or an outside group could agree to make a monthly match. MetroChange is actively recruiting partners. Message them via Twitter to send your ideas.
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