NYC bus fare evasion spikes: Will the MTA consider hikes, service cuts?

NEW YORK CITY - The MTA says the number of riders getting away with a free ride on the buses in NYC is spiking, costing the cash-strapped agency hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to the MTA, nearly half of its two million bus riders skip out on paying the fare. While the issue is not particularly new, the agency does say there has been a huge increase since before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, officials say about 20% of bus riders did not pay.

"We let people get out of the habit of paying for buses during COVID because we were trying to protect the drivers at the front and everybody got in the back door and nobody paid and it's hard to put that genie back in the bottle," MTA Chair Janno Lieber said.

Reduced service? Fare increase?

The growing problem could put the agency in a deeper financial hole and also lead to an increase in fares down the line, the MTA says.

"We all have to share this burden because the system needs to be there for all of us," Lieber. "It won't be fair to the people who are most dependent on transit if the system has to reduce service or become much more expensive because some people say I don't have to pay."

NYPD crackdown

The agency says they are working on a strategy with the NYPD to crack down on bus fare evasion, a challenge given there are more than 5,800 buses making thousands of stops every day.

"We can't afford to have police officers on every bus, but we can randomly have them take the bus. That enough might be a deterrent," says Michael Alcazar, retired NYPD detective and professor at John Jay College.

Last year, bus fare evasion cost the MTA $300 million.

"The whole city has become totally lawless," one person told FOX 5 NY.