Why Does the MTA Refuse to Work With a Nonprofit That Donates Rides to the Poor?

Zachary DuBow was used to seeing MetroCards strewn all over the city’s subway stations—discarded by tourists or neglected by everyday commuters. He began to wonder how many of the cards contained little bits of leftover money. Probably not enough for a full fare, he thought, but what if he combined the value of all the cards he found and distributed them to people who struggle to pay for public transit?

In early 2013, DuBow founded the Next Stop Project, an effort to do exactly that: redistribute the pittance left on discarded MetroCards to the neediest riders. “It’s a no-brainer idea,” said DuBow, a 26-year-old Upper West Side resident who recently left a business technology/IT consulting job.