IND West 4th Street station interior: turnstiles
and token booth (center background) at the West 3rd Street entrance. The
turnstiles shown are modern; the original ones had coin slots and the
turnstile itself (the part the turns) was horizontal and made of wood. The
subway fare was 5 cents until 1948, payable by putting a nickel into the
slot. From 1948 to 1953, dimes were used. After that came a series of
different subway tokens as the fare went up and up. Tokens were gradually
phased out in favor of the Metrocard between 1992 and 2003, which itself
will eventually be phased out in favor of contactless "smart" phones and/or
cards.