Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Metro North Travel


Fashion Week is wrapping up in the next few days and even though I've had a lot of fun, I'm sort of looking forward to getting back to my regular schedule and sleeping at normal hours! I've been trying to avoid skipping as many classes as I can, and sometimes that means making a mad dash from class to the train to make it to a show on time. It'd be nice to just take the subway, but there is no way I'd make it there as quickly as I can on the Metro North.

Unfortunately, I hate paying $5.25 for a one-way ride, so I've been trying to figure out ways to cheat the system a little bit. I know it's not right, but sometimes a girl's gotta save a few bucks for dinner. I wish I could figure out the ticket punching system that they use on the trains, because I somehow think that this could be the key to solving my problem. So far, my only strategies are:
  • Read a book/newspaper/magazine, and don't surrender the ticket unless asked. Hopefully they walk right by.
  • Sit in a seat that has a punched ticket in the seat already. Sometimes this works and sometimes it works against you... if only I could figure out the ticket punching code!
  • If using a ten-trip pass, smooth out the punches if they didn't go all the way through. I discovered this once when a ticket collector punched a box that had already been used, although this method makes me feel really guilty because it feels more like tampering with the ticket. Probably because it is  tampering.
With all of this said, I don't recommend getting on a train without a ticket altogether. I did this once accidentally, and with no cash to boot. They actually copy down your license information and write you up a ticket for far more money than it would have cost in the first place. Definitely not worth it.

3 comments:

  1. City TIckets are great, too! I wish they were available more often though, or there was some type of student price!

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  2. Yeah, that would be so much better! Guess the MTA has to make their money somehow, but sometimes those Peak hour prices seem so painful for a 15 minute ride!

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  3. Join the military. This is the only legal way to ride for free. They usually don't charge us as a courtesy.

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