The $250,000 Subway typo

[Hum]

Just days after hitting straphangers with a fare hike, the MTA threw away up to $250,000 worth of new subway maps because they displayed outdated fare information, The Post has learned.

?They?re very embarrassed about this,? a transit source said. ?They were frantically calling the booths trying to get these maps back.?

Not all the bad maps were yanked from circulation, though.

A March 2013 map obtained by The Post mistakenly lists the minimum price for a pay-per-ride card as $4.50, the old rate. The new minimum is $5. In both instances, the price covers the cost of two fares.

Workers said an intercom call came over several days ago ordering agents to stop distributing the map with no explanation offered.

?It was an urgent message: Please don?t issue any maps to the customers,? recalled a station agent in Brooklyn.

?The money they waste is mind-boggling,? she said.

Eventually, word got out about the typo.

?They weren?t coming out with a new map because they were changing the map. They were coming out with a new map because they were changing the price,? said Paul Flores, an MTA station agent and union leader. ?That was the sole purpose. And they couldn?t even get that right.?

Sources in Transit Workers Union Local 100 estimated 80,000 bad maps were printed at a cost up to $250,000.

New, corrected versions of the map won?t be in booths until March 15, sources said.

more

[ozgeek]

Oh I came in here as I though it was refering to the food chain, Subway.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

Oh I came in here as I though it was refering to the food chain, Subway.

ditto

[Growled Member]

Sources in Transit Workers Union Local 100 estimated 80,000 bad maps were printed at a cost up to $250,000.

I hope this comes out of someone's paycheck.

[Hum]

Should have just gave somebody a $2 marker, and hand wrote the changes. :p

[Shiranui]

Should have just gave somebody a $2 marker, and hand wrote the changes. :p

You Americans REALLY hate past participles, don't you? :rofl:

Anyway, are these maps those big ones displayed in stations? If so, they could just have printed stickers to correct the price.

[episode]

$3+ a print? Ridiculous.

[chconline Veteran]

They need to sell 500,000 tickets to make up for the change, which to my understanding the average weekday tops 5 million... they'll make the money back in a few hours :p

[Original Poster]

They need to sell 500,000 tickets to make up for the change, which to my understanding the average weekday tops 5 million... they'll make the money back in a few hours :p

that including the few hours running costs? ;D

[chconline Veteran]

I only accounted for the 50 cents difference. Do the math :p

[_neutrino Veteran]

i have only ever ridden two subway systems in my life, the one in Washington DC, and Boston, and I can honestly say, if I did not have a guide with me each time, i would have never found my destination.

[watkinsx2]

I've been on the one in London and the one in Prague - Prague wins.

[+ir0nw0lf Subscriber²]

I've been on the MARTA in Atlanta a few times, way back in the day of COMDEX lol. Also the U-Bahn (train, my German is rusty) between Fuerth and Nurenburg. Not a big fan of public transportation, here in Pensacola the bus system doesn't even come close to where I live. Easier/faster to drive.

[ShareShiz]

Oh I came in here as I though it was refering to the food chain, Subway.

same. I thought it was about subways 11" subs and people sued and got $250k

[Growled Member]

Should have just gave somebody a $2 marker, and hand wrote the changes. :p

That would have been much cheaper, for sure.