Before MetroCards debuted in 1997, and tokens hit the scene in 1953, subway riders paid the fare the old-fashioned way.
That meant purchasing a ticket at a manned wooden booth, then handing the paper ticket to an employee at a ticket chopper box.
The Wall Street station still has an original wooden booth (below) and ticket chopper (right), beautifully restored.
The cost of a ride in 1904, when the ticket system (and the subway itself) started: five cents.
Turnstiles that accepted coins were installed in the 1920s, to save money and prevent theft.
In 1953, token-taking turnstiles arrived on platforms. And not long behind, as crime worsened, came the bullet-proof glass, fortress-like token booth we know today.
Tags: MetroCards, MTA history, New York City subway history, NYC subway history, Subway tokens, Wall Street IRT station, wooden subway token booths, wooden ticket choppers NYC subway
August 2, 2010 at 3:19 am |
This post — as well as all the others — underscores how quickly life has changed for us in NYC. The subway station here, sans light bulbs, looks like something out of a Chekhov story.
August 3, 2010 at 2:16 am |
The bullet-proof booths didn’t come THAT quickly! I was born in the early 70′s and I still remember the old style boots, in particular on what is now the N line in Astoria. Back then it was the RR line.