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Introduced in 2008, LA's Metro announced earlier this year that the TAP card would replace all paper passes in March. The switch seems to have been fairly efficient and trouble-free for Metro and its ridership, but the transit blog +metro recently wanted to take on just how sturdy the card itself was, since Metro describes the item as a "durable plastic card with an electronic chip inside that you use again and again."
Says +metro:
We decided to challenge Metro's usage of the word durable, and set forth to see just how durable these cards really were. We began by purchasing several of these "durable" smart-cards, and proceeded by placing them all in our very own experiment which we like to call, Can You TAP Me Now?
The above image they compiled shows their experiments and results. (Uh, kids, don't try this at home...especially if you want to board a Metro bus or rail line.)
