# Transit Value Donations MetroChange Asks Commuters to Give Their Unused MetroCard Balances By Katherinev123 | Published 2011-12-22 | Social Good Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/metrochange References: [creativity-online](http://creativity-online.com/work/metrochange-metrochange/25684) & [blog.metrochange.org](http://blog.metrochange.org/) Since many commuters opt to buy new transit cards -- despite having a little bit of cash remaining on their current card -- three students at NYU's Interactive Communications Program have created a project called MetroChange to save and donate all of this [unused value to charity](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/charityexplorer). The MetroChange project asks New York City commuters to donate what's left on their unwanted MetroCards. According to the NYU students behind the MetroChange project, thrown-out MetroCards can add up to $52 million annually in unused value! They have created this hi-tech kiosk, which tells you the value you have on your card and gives you the option to [donate the balance](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/charitable-loyalty-program) as well as recycle the card. The MetroChange project is still in its beginning stages, however. And as the students' blog points out, simply donating what's left on a card doesn't make the value "real" money. One of the options they are exploring is finding [partners to match the amount donated](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/lets-match-mums). ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 0.8/10 - Popularity: 7% | Activity: 9% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Social Good](https://www.trendhunter.com/socialgood) > [Charity](https://www.trendhunter.com/charity) ## Key Themes ### What Makes This Trend Stand Out - **Mobile Donations:** Opportunity to create mobile donation platforms that allow commuters to easily donate unused balances on transit cards. - **Tech-enabled Charitable Giving:** Opportunity to develop more high-tech kiosks and platforms that facilitate charitable donations. - **Partnership Matching:** Opportunity to collaborate with partners who can match the amount donated by commuters on their transit cards. ### Sectors Adopting This - **Transportation:** Trend presents an opportunity for transportation companies to incorporate donation features into their transit card systems. - **Technology:** Trend creates a demand for developing innovative kiosks and mobile apps that enable easy balance donation. - **Charity:** Trend allows charities to tap into a new source of donations by partnering with transit card systems to receive unused balances. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Philanthropic Point-Of-Sale Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/round-up-the-change.md) - [Digital Fare Collection Services](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bloomington-transit.md) - [Pop-Up Reverse Supermarkets](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/reverse-supermarket.md) - [QR Code Travel Tickets](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/delhi-metro.md) - [Secure Card Recycling Systems](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/card-recycling-system.md) - [Unused Condiment Exchanges](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/heinz-tradeup.md) - [Hyper-Local Gifting Communities](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/buy-nothing-project.md) - [Charitable Shopping Assistants](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/give-freely.md) - [Charitable Loyalty Program Expansions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/charitable-loyalty-program.md)