"For most of us the card will be far more convenient than cash anyway. It was easy for me to overlook the hardship these changes will impose because I have a credit card that I can link up to my Navigator with autobuy and not think about it. I will always have enough. But for people with limited access to credit, or even those who are entirely unbanked, it will make life significantly more difficult. If they want the benefit of the day-pass rate they will need to show up in person to a few locations (primarily libraries, Price Choppers, the CDTA office) to load their card ahead of time. They will either need to do this very frequently, keeping careful tabs on how much is on there and when they will be nearby a place they can load it, so as to not get stranded, or tie up a significant amount of money at a time in their card that they can’t then spend on other things if needed. If they want to use cash they’ll need exact change, often requiring an extra expenditure or at least another stop to get. This is a classic example of the extra cost of being poor. Having an inconsistent cash flow is a sign of our times, as employers dole out shifts inconsistently, and more people rely on the gig economy. It might seem like not a big deal, and most people will figure it out most of the time, but all of those extra stops, those extra hoops to jump through, add up, especially for people who are already transit dependent. What else falls by the wayside to make this new juggling act work?"