Thursday, 4:30 PM
T ends an era, surprises a commuter
(Lisa Poole for the Boston Globe)
Rubiela Velez, 47, of Boston, showed off her token and her Charlie Card good for $100 after being notified today that she was the last person to purchase a token.
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
The last brass token on the MBTA was sold at 10:23 a.m. today at Government Center station to an East Boston woman on her way to go shopping in Cambridge.
Rubiela Velez, 47, a native of Colombia who spoke little English, was surrounded by cameras as the T's general manager told her the news, handed her a certificate, and a new fare card with $100 on it.
Velez beamed during the impromptu ceremony, saying in broken English that she had run out of tokens prior to buying the last one. She said she couldn't wait to show the framed certificate commemorating the event to her family.
As Velez made her way down the stairs to the trains, T workers began dismantling the last two turnstiles on the system.
The T is installing a new automated fare collection system on bus and subways, which is 90 percent complete. Fare cards loaded with cash will be the system's new currency and the token removed from circulation as riders use them. The installation is expected to be complete by the end of the month on the subway system. The system is installed on buses.
