subway passes in NYC
 

Hi,<BR>Please explain to me what my options are regarding subway passes in New York. How much they cost, where to get them, are they good for the busses too? Can you get multiply day passes?<BR>If you take a bus without a pass, do you need correct change? <BR>What is the cost? <BR>Thank you

See http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/index.html for everything you're asking.

One ride on the subway or bus is $1.50.<BR>The passes are called Metro cards and they are great to have so you don't have to worry about having change for the buses or tokens for the subway.<BR><BR>IF you want to use tokens they are good on the bus or subway again at $1.50.<BR><BR>What's great about the Metro Card is the transfer you can get from subway to the bus which is a free transfer.<BR><BR>You can also buy unlimited trips on the Metro Card for $4 - daily $17 -weekly and $63 monthly. This means any trip you take on the subway or bus. To stop multi-use on the bus and subway it can only be used once every 10 minutes so if there are more people in your party get more than one card.<BR><BR>The cards can be purchased online at the MTA website, at all subway stops and at some banks and corner delis and tourist locations around town. I have heard that some hotels also sell them.<BR><BR>If you don't have a Metro Card you have to have exact change or a subway token.<BR><BR>Hope this helps and have a great time while you are here.

FYI, the fares on all of the above are going up May 1.

After May 4 mass transit (subway and bus) will have the following fares:<BR><BR>$2 per ride (free transfer)<BR>1 Day Unlimited &quot;Fun Pass&quot; $7<BR>7 Day Unlimited $21<BR>30 Day Unlimited $70<BR><BR>There are no longer any tokens, you must use metrocard for subway. If you are on a bus you must use change (no bills) or metrocard.<BR><BR>You can buy the Metrocard from vending machines in most subway stations.

Ooops, correction to above. The price changes are in effect starting on May 4. <BR><BR>Before then it is still <BR><BR>$1.50 per ride<BR>$4 unlimted one day fun pass<BR>$17 unlimited 7 day

Is it true that a family can use ONE metro card to travel together on the subways, simply swipping the card through multiple times?

A family can use one &quot;pay as you go metrocard&quot; (where the fare is deducted for each swipe), but the unlimited metrocards are only good for one swipe per every 17 minutes (or so).

The re-use time is 18 minutes - <BR><BR>'Nit Picking Nina'

Hi,<BR>Does this mean that a family can't really use the reuasable card if they are traveling as a group, together?<BR>I think that is what you are saying? Only one person every 18 minutes, or one group every 18 minutes?

Unlimited ride cards cannot be used again at the same subway station or the same bus route for 18 minutes.

Cpeicott:<BR><BR>Let's clarify info about the Metrocard. There are 2 types of metrocards: Unlimited use, and pay-per-ride.<BR><BR>Unlimited use is a card that is good for 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month - these are the cards that can be only use at the SAME station every 18 mins - but you can get on &amp; off the buses and subways whenever you want - it's just the SAME station tyou have the time limit, to PREVENT multiple uses of the card.<BR><BR>The pay-per-ride is exactly what it says, you are paying for each ride, but you STILL get a free transfer between subway/bus, bus subway (depending which you paid for) within a 2 hour window, meaning if you take the subway at 1 pm, you have up to 3 pm to get a free ride on the bus to anywhere. This is the card you can use for one family and slide at the turnstile for each person.

So to clarify again, &quot;unlimited&quot; use card (ie $4 for a day) is really meant for one person &amp; is a good deal if you're planning on taking at least 3+ &quot;trips&quot; in a day. The pay as you go metrocard can be used by a family (multiple swipes at same station) OR individual but you're not getting any frequency discount.

McClaurie, good summary but if i too can nit-pick one aspect....<BR><BR>For a low use ride family, there is the benefit of the $1.50 bonus for putting $15 on one card.<BR><BR>Generally speaking:<BR>Unlimited use card is the way to go... you'll be surprised how much more you use it when it's already included.<BR><BR>Put at least $15 on each card in order to get the $1.50 bonus (unless you're sure you won't be using the add'l fare)<BR><BR>When your unlimited use Metrocard will be expiring that day and you're &quot;done&quot; traveling/sightseeing, i usually give it to somebody &lt;needy&gt; on line waiting to buy a fare.

For the pay-as-you-go card, transfers are recorded for up tp 4 people sharing (swiping) the same card. The transfer works for:<BR>--uptown or downtown bus to crosstown bus<BR>--any bus to any subway<BR>--any subway to any bus<BR>Thus, if you're making a quick trip and a bit tricky about it, you could make a roundtrip on one fare by going uptown by subway and downtown by bus.