Approximately one in two bus passengers failed to pay the fare when boarding a bus in New York City in the first three months of 2024, according to the latest stats from the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
That's nearly half of all bus riders. On the subways, some 14% of riders skipped paying. The rampant fare evasion has prompted the MTA to deploy a crew of "fare inspectors" on buses and at bus stops in a bid to stem the problem.
Fare evasion has spiked since the COVID-19 pandemic, when, in 2020, 21% of bus riders skipped paying. Now, it's more than double that.
The standard fare for subway riders and most bus passengers is $2.90 per trip.
Bus fare evasion cost the MTA some $312 million in revenue in 2022 alone, according to a 2023 report commissioned by the MTA.
Although much worse now, the MTA says bus fare evasion has been a serious problem for years. In 2018 some 18% of bus riders failed to pay the fare, compared to other major cities, like Paris, where 11% of riders failed to pay, or Toronto where the rate was 5%.
Transit union leaders discourage drivers from confronting fare evaders over fears they will be assaulted. One bus driver told the New York Post, "Out of a busload of people — let's say 10 people got on, maybe two paid." He added, "I just look the other way — we're taught not to fight the fare. We've got people that have gotten assaulted and stabbed because of them fighting the fare."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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