Oyster Card Guru Brings Hope to NYC's Transportation System

There are many things I loved about London while studying abroad there this past year. But the one thing that impressed me most was the city's transportation system. I loved the Tube. It’s clean, fast (most of the time), safe and people are actually nice. If there is a pregnant woman on the Tube, you better believe that she’s sitting down. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the best part about transportation in London - the Oyster Card.

This little card is like that one friend on whom you can always count on to be there and get you out of a sticky situation. It works “like an E-ZPass and deducts money directly from a person’s individual account,” according to NBC.com. If you have an Oyster Card and there is money or a weekly or monthly pass loaded on it, you can travel anywhere by either Tube or bus. It’s like you have the golden ticket in the transportation world of London - granted it swipes properly and you didn’t forget to “top-up.”

As of last week, the mastermind behind the Oyster Card and the man who re-invented the Transportation System in London became the new MTA leader in New York City. Appointed by Governor David Paterson, transit executive Jay Walder became the new director of the Metropolitan Authority on July 14, according to the New York Times. This is not the first time Walder has been part of the MTA. Before going to London and inventing the Oyster Card, he worked for the MTA from 1983 until 1995. According to crainsnewyork.com, Walder “beamed” while discussing the Oyster card and hinted that he may have something similar in mind for New York City, which serves about 8.5 million riders on a typical weekday. Here’s hope to a future for the Oyster Card in NYC and satisfying commuters with cleaner and faster subways and trains.