[noirbot]

Really? In my memory the cards last for 2 years. I've got one I got last year that will work until 2023. That seems like a fairly reasonable amount of time for a paper card to last for. I don't live there, but I regularly get 2-3 uses out of my $1 metro card before it expires.

If you're in from out of town, why are you leaving a ton of money on your card and/or not buying the $33 unlimited pass for 7 days that essentially pays for itself if you take a single trip each day? There's no minimum value you have to put on it either, so you can just put $5 on before every round trip or such and worst case you're out $2.50 if it expires before you use the return trip if you're trying to be that cautious.

I've got my issues with the MTA, but it seems far from an intentional grift.