Since September, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has been enforcing stringent measures to combat fare evasion on city buses, deploying unarmed fare enforcement agents to local bus services.
Fare evasion on buses was responsible for nearly half of the MTA’s total estimated losses of $700 million in 2022. MTA chairman Janno Lieber highlighted the severity of the issue, stating, “Buses have become the No. 1 fare evasion problem,” and emphasized the substantial financial burden it imposes on the transit system, as well as the unfairness to riders who pay their fares duly.
Agents began by concentrating on specific routes, issuing warnings and disseminating information about reduced fare options for low-income New Yorkers. They began issuing tickets for fare evasion in mid-September.
[For more information, visit the New York Post article]
