The first subway in New York was opened in 1904, and in 1913 regulations were introduced to set the maximum fare at five cents. For many years New Yorkers were delighted with the low cost of their subway system—until 1948, when the cost of a subway ride doubled to a dime. In 1953, it was raised again to fifteen cents, and tokens were introduced because riders could no longer use a single coin in the turnstile machines.

The fare stayed at fifteen cents until 1966, when it was raised to twenty cents. The following years saw consistent increases:

1970: $0.30
1972: $0.35
1975: $0.50
1980: $0.60
1981: $0.75
1984: $0.90
1986: $1.00
1990: $1.15
1992: $1.25
1995: $1.50

The use of fake tokens—usually foreign coins equivalent to a few cents—caused the system to lose so much money that ‘bull’s eye’ tokens were introduced in 1986 to make forgery more difficult. At first these tokens featured a metal disc in the center; today a hole fulfills the same function. MetroCards, first introduced in 1994, immediately became popular with subway riders and are now more widely used than tokens.