<p>I’d say, reguardless of the economic impacts of the subway pricing, it’s done the way it is for sheer simplicity. The MTA would face a nightmare if they had to keep track of where everyone got on and off. Imagine, they’d have to install new turnstiles(or at least swiping stations) for every subway station. Plus, it would be a pain for people who transfer multiple times in a short series(i.e. down east side to grand central, shuttle, and up to columbia would be 2 transfers). The NYC subway system is setup so that there are many ways to transfer, and accomplishing this plan would require a huge ammount of effort to build new turnstiles at each entrance to each individual subway. At times square, you’d need to add in 3 or 4 more SETS of turnstiles. This would run upwards of $100,000, if not millions of dollars for a single station alone. Is it doable? Possibly. Practical? Hell no. Not for NYC’s subway system. It works well the way it is, and that’s what matters.</p>
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<p>No, you only scan your card when you enter the system and leave the system. You don’t scan your card when you transfer. When you exit, the system figures out that you transferred. Dude, this isn’t that hard.</p>