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That's awesome... I've noticed the effects of this for years (always some change leftover on my card), but I've never stopped to actually calculate it. As a resident, you just keep adding to it over and over, so it's a constant cycle.

But for tourists, that's fascinating! The MTA ain't no fools either -- the "leftover" money on a MetroCard takes a few years to expire, but once it does, it's an EXTREME amount of money in the bank for them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/nyreg ... .html?_r=0" target="_blank

Thanks for posting. Up late reading for school, this was a nice break.

The London Underground "Oyster" card is the same way. It happened to me. My card had "enough" of a balance, but with the fee, it locked me from leaving (Fares on the London Underground are collected at the end of the journey, not at the beginning). I went to a transport officer, acted like a dumb tourist, and she let me through without having to pay the difference. This was in June, 2012, and I don't remember the odd amount that I re-loaded the card after that to get the same effect - maximizing usable amounts and minimizing unusable residual amounts.

The bottom line is the same: massive cash inflow to public transportation without having to provide service.

Hmmm...when is the next enterprising attorney going to file a class action lawsuit claiming an uncompensated "taking" of these residual balances by a public transportation agency as violating the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments?