yeah 50cents prob. bec. they're losing people to cell phones so they have to raise the cost 100% from 25cents to 50. here in the city it's an eroding situation for the phone companies, they have to maintain them while some people keep on defacing them and making them dirty, breaking them and everything, while less and less people use them due to cell phones. i'd much rather use a cellphone than breathe into those dirty handsets.
in Japan virtually every public pay phone WORKS. it doesn't spit out the change you just put it, it has a dial tone, they're clean, etc.
(because the citizens care, and the kids are respectful) and so while they're probably the cellphone capitol of the world, there are MORE public phone booths than we have here still.