New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) threw away upwards of $250,000 worth of new subway maps because they displayed outdated fare information, The New York Post reported.
The MTA ordered all its March 2013 subway maps pulled after discovering they still listed the old $4.50 minimum price for pay-per-ride cards. Earlier this month, the MTA hiked its fares for travel.
"They're very embarrassed about this," one transit source said. "They were frantically calling the booths trying to get these maps back."
Sources in Transit Workers Union Local 100 estimated 80,000 bad maps were printed at a cost up to $250,000. The new minimum is $5. In both instances, the price covers the cost of two fares.
Workers said an intercom call came over several days ago ordering agents to stop distributing the map with no explanation offered.
"It was an urgent message: Please don't issue any maps to the customers," recalled a station agent in Brooklyn. "The money they waste is mind-boggling."
"They weren't coming out with a new map because they were changing the map. They were coming out with a new map because they were changing the price," said Paul Flores, an MTA station agent and union leader. "That was the sole purpose. And they couldn't even get that right."
New, corrected versions of the map won't be in booths until March 15, sources said. The MTA conceded it distributed at least two boxes of bad maps to commuters, saying later they were mostly pulled from station booths before they got out, according to the Post.
An MTA spokesman said he could not "get a figure" on how many maps were printed and at what cost.
