The Transit Authority yesterday dropped its policy of keeping unlimited-ride MetroCard users from re-entering the subway system or transferring to buses for 18 minutes, sources said.
Transit officials installed a computer program to eliminate the lockout for straphangers who buy the $17 weekly and $63 unlimited monthly passes and the $4 daily Fun Pass.
The TA put the restriction in place last summer as a security measure to prevent scams – such as multiple riders traveling on the same unlimited-ride card.
But many travelers complained of getting locked out of the transit system after making a quick stop to run an errand.
They had been getting a message at the turnstile reader, saying, “Just Used.”
To prevent fraud, the 18-minute lockout will still remain in the station where the rider first entered, and possibly other stations a block or less away.
A Post survey last night confirmed the 18-minute restriction had been lifted.
A reporter took a Q train from Rockefeller Center to 34th Street at 7:45 p.m., transferred to the N and got off at the next stop – 28th Street – crossed the street and re-entered the uptown N and R station at 7:57 p.m. The word “Go” appeared at the turnstile – even though it was just 12 minutes from the time the reporter first entered the subway. Under the new system, a rider could also transfer from one bus to another without a time limit.
“That’s great news,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said about the lifting of the lockout.
“It’s been a serious annoyance. It takes the word ‘unlimited’ out of the unlimited pass. I was locked out and had to wait six minutes the other day after going to the store.”