Metrocard, the automated fare collection system, was the largest public works project in U.S. public transport history changed the way New Yorkers went to and from work.
- In an editorial, July 4, 1997 called “Transit independence”, The New York Daily News called Metrocard “the biggest change in the history of New York City transit since Fiorello LaGuardia unified the three subway systems back in 1940. This is real History—of the ‘who ever wadda thunk it’ kind.” The New York Times, July 7, 1998, reported “M.T.A. Sees Unlimited-Ride Metrocard as Workaday Success” while The New York Daily News on the same day called it “No token achievement.” And on July 7, 1998 The New York Daily News declared in a headline, “MetroCard gets an A.” And finally, in 1999, the New York Daily News ran a feature story praising the things it believed came close to “perfection.” MetroCard was one of those things.
- Promoting Metrocard involved both public and private partnerships—American Express, VISA, Mastercard, The Jackie Robinson Foundation, New York Yankees, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Modell’s Sporting Goods, The New York Historical Society and many more.
M.T.A. Turns Deal Maker In Promoting MetroCards”, David M. Halbfinger, The New York Times, June 5, 1997…” George Carrano, senior vice president of New York City Transit…”
“Metrocard Cuts Cost in Half for Subway and Bus Riders Accustomed to 2 Fares a Trip”, Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times, July 4, 1997, “…George A. Carrano, the senior vice president of the Transit Authority in charge of putting the Metrocard program into operation.”
