Monthly or pay-per-ride, which is cheaper?
As a non-NYC living commuter, do I get a monthly unlimited or pay-per-ride Subway ticket? That’s a question that perplexed me for a bit, until I decided to solve it once and for all.
This calculator is designed to determine if your commuting patterns would be better served with a NYC transit 30 day unlimited vs. a pay-per-ride option.
It’s based on the premise that you are primarily a commuter, and are not living in the city or doing a lot of non-commuting travel on the NYC subway system.
- Selecting a specific start/end date allows you to get a accurate comparison, especially for the pay-per-ride option.
- Regardless of the date in a month selected, this calculator will assume purchase of the full month of the unlimited.
- The default one-way fare is for the highest price. If you have special circumstances (i.e. child, student or you qualify for a reduced fare, please adjust the fares accordingly.)
Of course there are other specific comparison criteria on the newly redesigned MTA web site.
This was designed for the NYC subway system, but there is no reason it can’t be applied to any other transit system to compare. Just modify the program details in the transit constants fields. I.e. the fixed cost monthly, and the per ride costs. If you are not getting a bulk purchase discount, then simply keep the adjusted pay-per-ride cost the same as the actual cost.