The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has announced the deployment of a new law enforcement team of “fare inspectors” to catch free riders in New York City as fare evasions reach an all-time high.
These unarmed “fare inspectors” will be tasked with decreasing the number of fare evaders and will remain present within buses and at bus stops.
According to the MTA, when travelers pay their full fare, it helps the government improve its offerings. More fares mean more bus operators and mechanics and a renewed fleet of buses, making bus services attractive for 2 million New Yorkers, the MTA added.
The decision of the MTA came at a time when the city’s bus infrastructure was strained by increasing demand and low fare collection.
The problem is only escalating, and the number of fare evaders has risen since the coronavirus pandemic, when it stood at only 21% in 2020 compared to 50% in the first three months of the current year. This number is a bit low in subways but still stands at 14%.
Last year, the MTA released a report stating that the government had to bear a loss of $312 million in 2022, a number that has now been raised dramatically. An average NYC bus fare is $2.90.
Even before the pandemic, in 2018, fare evasion was only 18%, but it was still higher than in other major global cities like Paris and Toronto, where this number stood at 11% and 5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, transit union leaders are recommending that their drivers not fight with passengers who refuse to pay, as the situation often turns into physical violence.
One bus driver, Curtis Carrington, noted that if he has ten people onboard and only two pay, he still avoids fights as some of the other drivers have been assaulted and stabbed by the troubling passengers in the past.
Carrington contested that drivers should be responsible for ensuring fare collection, as he stated that his job is to transport people from one point to another.
Historically, bus drivers have been responsible for fare collection in New York. Still, the 2008 stabbing of a bus driver by a passenger in Brooklyn changed the laws and urged authorities to look at alternative solutions.
Such violent incidents helped the driver union build its case, which helped them get protected cockpits for drivers in 2023. The union argued that these cockpits are supposed to keep drivers safe from “unhinged riders” who can otherwise throw objects or attack directly on the drivers.
The effectiveness of the newly installed fare inspectors will only be known once there is enough sample size to study fare evasions in public transit. MTA suggested that these inspectors can fine fare jumpers $50 to $100 while also forcing them to get off the buses.
Although these inspectors were “soft launched” last year, new funding will increase their number up to 100, and the New York Police Department Officers will protect them.
