Did you even know there was a hack to get a free ride out of a two trip metro card? Well, there is, but in a recent statement by the MTA the hack will be fixed soon.
The hack isn’t really all that new, we posted about it back in November of last year, and there is even a report on the trick by NYDailyNews dating back 18 years. Since then the hack has circulated on Reddit and various other social networks and recently grabbed the spotlight again on Instagram.
The video above breaks down, tutorial style, how the hack works, step by step, quasi-narrated with a hip-hop track explaining the steps.
First, the two trip card is swiped at the turnstile, next the bottom right corner is bent over towards the magnetic strip then swiped twice, then unbent and swiped twice again. Voila. Free trip.
Check out:
- Real Or Hoax? Ride The NYC Subway for FREE using an empty 2-Trip Metrocard
The reality is that since you can’t actually buy a two-trip card at a kiosk (they are only available at hospitals and other social service agencies) people who want to try this trick are going to have a pretty hard time finding one.
In an email statement to TimeoutNY, an MTA spokesman said:
“Despite the illegal video tutorial, it is still very difficult to manipulate the card to steal the extra trip. […] The issue will be completely eliminated when the new fare payment system is introduced.”
So if you are one of the enterprising hackers traveling the NYC subway for free… enjoy it before they close the loop. …there is, after all, no such thing as a free ride.
Featured image source [paulmmay | Flickr]