The proposal for the $1 surcharge was contained in the agency's preliminary budget for next year.
The aim is to reduce the number of cards that are printed and discarded.
The surcharge would produce about $18 million a year for the MTA.
MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg told the Daily News (http://nydn.us/QhKpUF ) that the agency prints and encodes an average of 160 million MetroCards a year at a cost of about $9.5 million. Printing fewer cards will save the MTA about $2 million.
He said printing fewer cards will reduce litter in the subway system and help the environment.
The Straphangers Campaign has endorsed the plan.
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ONLINE: mta.info
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