The Metrocard mistake that could cost you

(New York-WABC, May 29, 2006) (WABC) -- It turned out to be the most expensive subway ride for the young mom: Sixty dollars in all for an infraction she had no idea she was making. How avoid the same transit trap? Seven On Your Side has the answers.

Last March, Michelle went to the 34th Street subway station with with her mom and young daughter, stroller in tow.

Michelle: "So we schlepped the carriage down all the stairs, which is not very easy, and of course my baby wasn't enjoying this whole thing, so she was screaming."

But the stroller wouldn't fit through the turnstile, so, like she has done many times before, Michelle put their metrocards in the handicapped slot and walked through the door.

Michelle: "I put the card in, the door opened."
Tappy: "No problem?"
Michelle: "No problem."

But moments later there was a problem.

Michelle: "This guy comes over to me, very nasty, and he said, 'Excuse me, did anyone give you permission to go through that door?' I said I didn't realize I need permission to go through that door."

Both Michelle and her mother got sixty-dollar tickets, charged with going through a service door without permission.

Handicapped passengers have special cards that open these doors. Regular metrocards should not work. But the day Michelle was here, the door was unlocked and she was able to pass through.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority tells us passengers with strollers should go to the station manager, get permission, swipe their card in the regular turnstile and the station manager will remotely release the door.

Michelle: "So I said to him there's no sign telling me I'm supposed to do that. How should I know I'm supposed to do that?"

That's right: At the 34th Street station our camera found no signs with the rules for strollers, and on this day an unlocked door allowing passengers to go in and out unchallenged.

Michelle thinks she is the victim of rules that are unposted and unclear.

Michelle: "I would not try to steal a ride for two dollars. This makes absolutely no sense."

The transit authority says that passengers should know the rules and that Michelle and her mother's tickets stand. They say they plan to put signs in the stations to clarify the policy, but none was there as of this afternoon.

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