This week, we asked readers their thoughts on reports that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) may extend the elimination of cash transactions at subway booths, a policy first brought in March 2020 to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea because a lot of people don’t have the means to acquire a bank card or debit card or credit cards to pay for the subway. How would ending cash transactions make the subway safer? Everyone that has to go somewhere will use the subway, so what would make it safer? I don’t understand how that would make it safer. Will it affect me? Actually, it could affect me. I could lose my bank card, and I’d have no means to get on the subway. It’s not a good idea.”

Sheldon Parker,

Norwood

“My opinion is that they shouldn’t end it because right now, with the COVID situation that’s going on, crime has drastically gone up, especially in the subways. Since COVID hit, I have worked every day, and I see that the crime has drastically increased. So, we need token booths to, at least, be an eye there since we don’t have the police involved. At the moment, the police are there but we still need more eyes out there so they shouldn’t eliminate cash transactions, because if we need help with anything, they’re there to help us.”

Allan Mohammed,

Norwood

“I think they’re trying to go against poor people. A lot of people don’t have access to a smart phone and that kind of technology, and don’t have bank accounts. I think that it’s a war on poor people. It’s a war on working class New Yorkers. I don’t believe it’s a safety issue. I think they’ve been trying to clean up New York in their own way, and they haven’t really focused on cleaning the actual train and spending the money that way. They’d rather spend it on making it harder for people that work.”

Johnny Vudoe,

Norwood

 

“The MTA has always been disconnected from the needs of riders. Why? Because they are a State authority, and they function at the State level. The trains and buses should be put under the financial control and logistical control of New York City and the five boroughs, not some State agency who really doesn’t care, and has proven time and time again that they’re incompetent and unresponsive to transit riders. At a time when we should be strengthening and incentivizing using public transit, with the horrible traffic that the Bronx is experiencing, the MTA is making it more inconvenient and less likely that people will ride the trains.”

“Raph,”

Pelham Parkway

“We fail as a city when we use technology as a tool to exclude, rather than include our most vulnerable neighbors. Lots of New Yorkers rely on cash to move around the city. Advocating to keep a cash option is not a luddite position. Seeking efficiency at the expense of excluding parts of our population from accessing the MTA violates the spirit of providing a public service.”

Jonathan Soto,

Throggs Neck

 

Editor’s Note: When asking customers for their thoughts, the question was phrased as a proposal by MTA to eliminate cash transactions at token booths / turnstiles. It was on this basis that readers responded. In fact, the MTA has clarified that it has no plans to eliminate cash transactions at subway stations. “Recent news has focused on the possibility of eliminating cash transactions at subway booths, not stations, where we will always accept cash at MetroCard (and going forward OMNY) machines,” an MTA representative said. “But even at booths, there has been no “proposal” put forward about making any policy changes. Cash acceptance was discontinued at booths in March 2020 due to the pandemic.” Norwood News clarified the situation in a recent story which includes the MTA’s response, which can be read here. 

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