It’s no secret that I view fare and toll evasion as an existential threat not only to the MTA, but also the long-term future of New York City and the region.
One year after the release of a far-reaching report by the Blue-Ribbon panel on Fare Evasion, we’re starting to make progress addressing this complex, $700+-million-a-year issue.one-size-fits-all solution. There are fare evaders who are determined not to pay, those who would have paid but saw an opportunity to grab a freebie, and of course, others who might not have the means to pay. All require different approaches, and that’s what we’ve been experimenting with over the last 12 months.
To address the first two Es, MTA has opened 15 Customer Service Centers systemwide where New Yorkers can learn about and enroll in the City’s Fair Fares program, which provides eligible low-income applicants with half-priced MetroCards and OMNY accounts. You might have also noticed the marketing push for Fair Fares we’ve been doing onboard trains and in stations.
But until we can get those determined not to pay to follow the rules, we’ll still need to strategically deploy enforcement. So far this year, NYPD officers have issued twice as many summonses as they did in 2019 – more than 48,000 as of May 19. The fourth E – Environment – will take the most time to address, since it involves redesigning turnstiles and all the fare infrastructure at all 472 subway stations. In the short term, we’ve upgraded 1,400 turnstiles at more than 100 locations to prevent back-cocking and installed jump-deterring turnstile fins at four pilot stations. With these mitigations, fare evasion has fallen more than 20% at those locations.
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