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Comment by moogleii | Hacker News Reader

I'm a little skeptical of the arguments made by this article, even though I really enjoy the enthusiasm behind it. I've been using an unlimited for almost always, so I'll have to verify the refill options at the machines, but I know you can refill your cards with an arbitrary amount at the manned booths.

Also, in conjunction with the good counter-points being made by others here, let's not forget his points rest upon free money. Without that bonus, he'd be a dollar short, not 5 cents. In fact, with option 3 (the $39 one), he literally received an extra subsidized ride. $39/2.5 is 15.6 => 15 rides. But with the free bonus he is able to take his 16th ride.

I suspect this has more to do with poor UI, than anything else. Take a look at the Citibike UI if you're not an annual member. You will have less hair after having used it. Makes the MTA one seem glorious.

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> "free money"

Hah! That's a good one!

It's like those stores that always have half the store "50% off," they just always charge more and expect you to only buy the things on sale and feel like you got a great deal when in reality you paid what they expected you to pay.

i.e. that "free 5%" you get when buying a card comes is the same damn thing as just charging 5% less on the per ride costs in the first place. It's not free money at all. You just feel like it's free. Honestly, that "free money" only further supports the idea that the MTA is run more like a penny-pinching crony business than a public transport system.

It's free in the sense that they don't have to offer that at all. Obviously there is some kind of attempt at profit in the system on the MTA side of things. I'm not really sure how your argument would work with my unlimited card, but yes, "Hah."

They're not "offering" anything. They're just using clever language and math to trick people into thinking they're getting a deal.

Like every other for-profit company on the planet?

There's a measurable difference between the bonus and no-bonus option, and in this case, that's 5%. That is the offer. Given the option between the two, I'll take the bonus knowing fully well in either scenario they are profiting.

AT&T's classic monthly rates factor in subsidization, and thus are substantially higher than ...whatever value you seem to be wishing that they charge - I sincerely hope not at-cost. If they offer a 5% discount, they're still profiting, but you're paying 5% less than you would have. That is something, and that is an offer.

But unlike every other for-profit company on the planet, the MTA is a public benefit corporation.

The MTA is at least partly-funded by real-estate taxes.

There's a measurable difference between the bonus and no-bonus option, and in this case, that's 5%. That is the offer. Given the option between the two, I'll take the bonus knowing fully well in either scenario they are profiting.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Compare the 5% bonus with simply lowering the cost of fares an equivalent amount.

It disincentivizes buying a single fare (amounts under $5 don't get the bonus). Its a dumb way of doing so, yes, but there is a real purpose.

Of course, now that there's the $1 per card fee, it might not be a useful purpose, but that's a different argument.

Indeed, the whole "never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence" bit.

I think there's a strong likelihood that the numbers 9, 19, and 39 were chosen because with the $1 card fee, they make nice round multiples of $10. Put a $20 bill in, get a $19 card.

That is great when you are buying the card new, but why do that for the refill screen? Surely the typical rider refills more often than buys new, so you are going to make change more often than you would with round number charges for all transactions.

That's a completely different screen. I usually use unlimited, but I'm pretty sure it has the expected 10/20/40 amounts (each with the +5% "bonus").

I switched back to a money card from an unlimited a while back. This is correct. I can't recall if it's 10/20/40 exactly, but they're all multiples of 5, for sure.

It's definitely 10/20/40.

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