Darth Evader
Transit big offers plan vs. beaters
Man the gates!
Frustrated that fare evaders are costing subways and buses millions, NYC Transit chief Andy Byford on Monday said he’ll make office staff stand before station turnstiles and gates and ride on buses to “provide a physical block to make sure you must have a ticket before you go into the station or onto that bus.”
Byford got the idea for what he calls “random revenue protection blockades” from transit systems in London and Australia where he used to work.
He’s shown willingness to act himself. At an MTA board meeting last month, Byford said he confronted a turnstile jumper and persuaded him to pay the $2.75 subway fare.
Transit officials are also testing deterrents like surveillance cameras, anti-fare beating signs, and deployment of more police officers to stations and buses.
Everyone can see the problem — “you only have to stand at the gate array for any period of time,” Byford said after an MTA meeting.
“I saw it just this morning — you do see people jumping over the turnstiles, going underneath the turnstiles, tailgating through the service gate. It is a huge problem here.”
The agency believes fare beating costs $215 million a year — $96 million on the subways, and $119 million on buses.
Subway and bus riders skip paying fares 556,000 times a day, the MTA estimates — 208,000 times on the subways, and 348,000 times on the buse.
“This is sending such a terrible message to the vast majority of riders, many of them who really scrape together their fares, who pay their fares, and watch people who don’t,” MTA board member Carl Weisbrod said.
Fare beating rose sharply after Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. announced in February that his office would scale back fare-beating prosecutions, MTA data show.
On subways and buses, fare evaders make up about 3.5% of passengers, the MTA says.
That’s up from a 1% fare evasion rate the MTA recorded at the end of 2017.
Enforcement from police dropped over that time, with summonses down 33%, before an uptick through September, according to MTA stats.
Vance’s office claims it is not responsible for the rise in fare evasion, since the NYPD can continue to enforce fare rules, said spokesman Danny Frost.
“The DA’s policy is supported by criminal justice, anti-poverty, and transit policy advocates,” Frost said.