open the gate, and have to spend another token to enter at another gate. A token thief would then suck the token from the jammed slot with their mouth. This could be repeated many times as long as no police officers spotted the activity. Some token booth attendants sprinkled chili powder in the slots to discourage "token sucking". Token sucking (also known as stuff 'n' suck) was charged under theft of services, criminal tampering and criminal mischief. Token issues were compounded when transit riders discovered in the early 1980s that tokens purchased for use in the Connecticut Turnpike toll booths were of the same size and weight as New York City subway tokens. Since they cost less than one third as much, they began showing up in subway collection boxes regularly. Connecticut authorities initially agreed to change the size of their tokens but later reneged, and the problem went unsolved until 1985, when Connecticut discontinued the tolls on its turnpike. At that time, the MTA was paid 17.5 cents for each of more than two million tokens that had been collected during the three-year "token war". Tokens were sold until April 13, 2003, after which only MetroCards were used for fare payment. Tokens were phased out in 2003 when the fare rose to $2 (). MetroCard On October 30, 1992, the installation of Automated Fare Collection turnstiles began. On June 1, 1993, MTA distributed 3,000 MetroCards manufactured by Cubic Transportation Systems in the first major test of the technology for the entire subway system and the entire bus system. Less than a year later, on January 6, 1994, MetroCard-compatible turnstiles opened at Wall Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line () and Whitehall Street – South Ferry on the BMT Broadway Line (). All MetroCard turnstiles were installed by May 14, 1997, when the entire bus and subway system accepted MetroCard. On September 28, 1995, buses on Staten Island started accepting MetroCard, and by the end of 1995, MetroCard was accepted on all New York City Transit buses. Before 1997, the MetroCard design was blue with yellow lettering. These blue cards are now collector's items. On July 4, 1997, the first free transfers were made available between bus and subway at any location with MetroCard. This program was originally billed as "MetroCard Gold". Card colors changed to the current blue lettering on goldenrod background. The first MetroCard Vending Machines (MVMs)