Nearly 50% of NYC bus riders aren’t paying fares, MTA says

NEW YORK — The MTA is facing a new surge in bus fare evasion that is costing millions of dollars, just as the cash-strapped agency is in dire need of new funds to upgrade its aging system.
CBS News New York has learned some troubling statistics. Every single day close to 1 million bus riders — 48% — board without paying the fare. Believe it or not, that is more than double since the pandemic. In 2020, 21% of bus riders boarded without paying. Part of the reason for that is that buses were free during the pandemic and officials say it’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle.
What’s more, the MTA lost $315 million to bus fare evasion in 2022.
The agency does have fare inspectors who can make you pay the fare or give you a summons, but they can’t be everywhere.
Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani said many don’t pay because they can’t afford it. His suggestion is to make buses free and have the city and state reimburse the MTA.
“That’s about $800 million a year,” Mamdani said, “which may sound like a lot of money, and it is substantial, but in the context of a city budget that’s north of $100 billion and a state budget that’s north of $220 billion, this is just pennies.”
The fare evasion is happening as the MTA is facing the problem of proposing a new capital budget next month that will have to deal with an aging fleet, including:
“You can’t sell bonds on an I.O.U. We need funding and we need it set in place,” MTA board member Andrew Albert said.
Video shows a bus pull into the stop at 149th Street and the Grand Concourse in the the Concourse Village section of the Bronx on Monday. A handful of riders are seen getting on in the front and paying their fare. However, most boarded through rear doors and didn’t pay. An MTA official told reporter Marcia Kramer that it’s par for the course there, part of a burgeoning and startling problem.
The scene was upsetting to agency board members.
“I yell at some people: ‘You want to see service cuts? Keep doing that,'” Albert said.
As for the riders who do pay, they are equally frustrated.
“People who don’t pay their fare should really, like, reconsider doing that because paying the fare helps the MTA run more smoothly,” one person said.
“Sometimes I have the feeling I’m the only one who is paying the fare, on the bus especially,” another said.
“It’s annoying. Pay your fare,” another added.
A spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s working on a proposal to fund the remaining projects in the old capital plan that were put on hold because of the pause on congestion pricing, plus money for the new needs.