NYC Transit revealed why the Metrocard vending machines were so screwed on Monday and Tuesday: An encryption device wasn't working! The NY Times explains usually 2 devices "[encode] transmitted data for customer and bank security and [are] housed at a data center on Staten Island," but when one failed, the other couldn't deal with the demand. When the broken device was discovered--and replaced--the problem stopped. The agency says that everyone whose credit/debit cards were charged......

While NYC Transit says the problems with Metrocard vending machines have been solved, apparently some stations' machines are still touch-and-go. But whether that's related to the systemwide issue or just par-for-the-course Metrocard vending machine, we'll never know. The clerk at the 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue line told the Daily News that "major, systemwide failures hit about once a month - and that on a regular basis, at least half of the machines in her......

Photograph by [phil h] on Flickr Commuters trying to buy Metrocards with credit or debit cards on Monday or yesterday morning faced problems at non-working Metrocard vending machines and, worse, money taken out of their accounts though they were told the transactions didn't go through. The NY Times spoke to NYC Transit, which described the systemwide outages (yes, pretty much all the machines) as unprecedented. NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said there was "some......

According to the NY Times, "scores and possibly hundreds of MetroCard vending machines" were not accepting credit or debit card payments yesterday, frustrating cashless or cash-averse commuters trying to buy Metrocards. The problem first occurred during the morning rush and was resolved by 10 a.m. (says NYC Transit), but then reappeared during the evening rush hour. This seems to happen every so often, which is all the more reason to keep a backup Metrocard.......