YER BUS-TED

Cops cracking down on farebeaters, arrests skyrocket

ARRESTS FOR FARE-beating on buses is up 102% this year because of ramped-up enforcement, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Monday.

Cops arrested 1,228 bus farebeaters between Jan. 1 and June 24, authorities said. Police arrested 609 people for boarding buses without paying during the same period last year, authorities said.

MTA officials estimate bus farebeaters deprive the authority of more than $50 million a year. Subway and bus fare evasions total ap- proximately $100 million in losses, an MTA official said.

Based on the $1.63 average price of a trip, that is 61 million unpaid rides a year on buses and subways.

The Bronx has seen the brunt of the police crackdown. Cops in the borough have busted 992 bus farebeaters this year — more than double the 412 arrested during the same time in 2011.

The next highest amount of arrests was in Manhattan, where 123 bus fare-evaders have been collared as of June 24, up from 75 for the same time a year earlier.

NYC Transit President Tom Prendergast said evasion rates vary around the city.

“We’re seeing the higher-end rates in Staten Island, where there’s a lot of school service and a lot of fare evasion may be students,” Prendergast said.

Cops have busted 60 bus fare-evaders this year in Staten Island; they nabbed a measly three during the same time a year earlier.

Students receive school-issued Metrocards, which provide three swipes daily, but they may evade fares to use the card later in the day, Prendergast said.

He said more studies needed to be done to determine the cause.

Helena Koudou, 16, said she sees students fare beat on the B14.

“If the bus is crowded a lot of people go through the back,” she said. “But now I don’t do it after my friend told me she got caught.”