So I’ve updated my Metrocard Math site.
First, my friend David Dominguez helped out to make it much, much prettier. He also added some jQuery magic, and changed up a significant amount of how the site is structured. I was trying a weird idea – where I would strip the markup down to its most basic elements, and style it from there using cleverly-constructed css selectors, but I don’t think it worked out. My friend Bryan tried to restyle it as well, and the rigidity of the markup basically stopped him in his tracks. So, anyways, now it looks prettier and is definitely more usable on my phone.
I also had tried to buy a metrocard for one of the Magic Number amounts the other day at a vending machine, and it was rejected due to “invalid amount.” Stupid. It had worked before. I tried the small number. I tried the big number. Nothing worked. On a hunch, I tried $11.75 instead of $11.74. Success. And of course, I will eventually have a metrocard with a penny on it. So apparently, the number has to be divisible by 5? So I’ve added that to the site, and we’ll see when I next buy a metrocard if the new system actually works. I hope they don’t make it where it has to be divisible by $0.25, that would really sting.
I still want to do something where you can toggle between the current prices and the newly announced ones. But right now you can just type in the new numbers – Here’s what they are according to the Queens Chronicle (which I used to consult for a million years ago!) $104 is the new 30-day, $2.50 is the new single ride, and $29 is the new 7-day. The one-day funpass is going to be eliminated and so will the 14-day unlimited. Oh, and I hadn’t seen this before – there’s now going to be a $1 surcharge every time you pick up a new metrocard (though that doesn’t start till some time in 2011) OUCH. That means when you leave your metrocard at home and have to buy another one it’s *really* going to sting. One more extra buck. Damn. I mean, you can still use the lastest magic number ($15.65 I believe? Though I worry my rounding might not match the MTA’s…), but you definitely will not want to be throwing out your metrocards anymore.