Geek Chic

On the subway this morning I saw a sign that read something like:

“In 1989 a single ride on the MTA cost $1.  That’s $1.89 in 2008 dollars.  If you buy a 30 day unlimited pass now, the cost is $1.17.  That’s a real value!”

Something like that.

Does anyone else see some problems here?  First of all, they don’t say how many times you need to ride in order to get a rate of $1.17.  Turns out it’s 69.23 times, or a little more than 2x a day in the 30 day period.  I’m assuming this is based on some internal average they have somewhere (and is honestly probably accurate for most commuters), but it’s still a questionable omission.

Second, and this is a larger issue: they’re comparing apples and oranges.  A fair comparison would be: a single ride used to cost $1, which is $1.89 in 2008 dollars.  Now it costs $2.  So you lose.

OR they could compare the cost of some sort of equivalent to the 30 day pass in 1989 and the cost of one today.  But I’m sure that’s a losing arithmetic battle as well.

Why did they put up this ad?  I guess the intention was to make us feel like we’re getting some value out of our subway pass.  But, really.  How stupid do they think we are?

Ironically enough, the next billboard over was one for the 2nd ave subway line, which is slated to be in operation by 2015. To which we say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”