STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At a time when the MTA remains strapped for cash while struggling to fix the city’s ailing transit system, the agency claims to be losing hundreds of millions of dollars to fare evaders.
Among the main culprits are Staten Island bus riders, who New York City Transit president Andy Byford claimed during last week’s MTA Board Finance Committee Meeting have some of the highest rates of bus fare evasion in the city.
Byford said the agency will step up enforcement "on those routes that have the highest fare evasion, and those are in the Bronx and on Staten Island.”
Despite the claim, the MTA states that its sampling methodology used to estimate fare evasion totals is citywide, and cannot be reliably be boiled down to specific areas. So the agency is unable to provide specifics related to the number of fare evaders on Staten Island.
To determine estimates, MTA staff visited several assigned subway stations and bus routes each day to observe various types of far evasion. A randomized quarterly sample of the observations were generated, including peak and non-peak travel times, high- and low-level stations, with all boroughs represented. Limitations include human error and the mere presence of staff serving as a deterrent to fare evasion.
“Let’s cut straight to the chase. We estimate for 2018, the revenue lost to fare evasion to be $215 million, which is a huge amount in anyone’s terminology, and that is a very large amount compared to where else I’ve worked," said Byford.
Current estimates from the MTA show 348,000 daily bus fare evaders, equaling 16.3 percent of all daily ridership, resulting in a loss of $119 million in revenue.
Estimates show 208,000 daily subway fare evaders, equaling 3.8 percent of all daily ridership, resulting in a loss of $96 million in revenue.
This marks an increase of $110 million in unclaimed revenue from 2015, according to the MTA.
Data was compiled from observations made at approximately 180 subway station control centers and 140 bus routes per quarter.
Byford emphasized the importance he has placed on cracking down on fare evasion during his short time at the agency.
“In the 11 months I’ve been here we’ve already taken action to address something that’s not unique to New York City Transit, but certainly has become an increasing problem,” said Byford.
He says the agency will use available camera feeds and collected data “so we can identify who is doing it, where they are doing it and when they are doing, so that you have an intelligence-led enforcement strategy."
The MTA plans to increase the presence of NYPD Transit Bureau officers throughout the system to combat the widespread fare evasion.
“We have 2,600 NYPD Transit Bureau officers. We’ve asked the police chief that they be assigned to the subway system and onto buses to effectively create fare evasion strike teams,” said Byford.
“We’re working with local precincts to now have cops boarding buses, again in an intelligence-led manner, so that we are providing unpredictable inspections so that the deterrent impact is felt,” he continued.
The MTA will also increase deployment of their “eagle teams” -- officials with the authority to issue $100 Transit Adjudication Bureau summonses for fare evasion. Initially deployed only on select bus service routes, the “eagle teams” will be expanded to cover local bus routes.
Byford says the agency has already begun piloting the “eagle teams” on local bus routes, including in the Bronx and on Staten Island, where the agency claims the highest rates of fare evasion.
The MTA has already installed anti-fare evasion signage in all subway stations and is in the process of installing it along all bus routes.
The agency is also exploring the use of video monitors, similar to what you see in shops, to alert potential fare evaders that they are on camera.
Byford even discussed the possibility of using “protection blockades” -- something he claims his former agencies have used in England and Australia, to prevent would-be fare evaders.
“We will get teams of people from the head office to, on a random basis, either ride buses or to go and stand at stations to provide a physical block to make sure you must have a ticket before you go into the station or onto that bus,” said Byford.
“We will of course have police or our eagle teams with us to provide the backup that we would need,” he continued.
