It's getting harder and harder to hitch a ride on an MTA bus for free.
Riders are also noticing that the army of unarmed “enforcement officers” stationed at Big Apple bus stops and city buses to stop fare hikes is quickly reaping the benefits.
“They're serious,” bus passenger Imogene Grant told the Post while waiting for the Q65 bus in Jamaica last week. “If you don't pay, you won't be allowed to ride.”
MTA fare inspectors, known as the EAGLE team, operate in both uniform and plainclothes to remove anyone who has not paid their bus fare across the five boroughs and to remove passengers who attempt to board a bus using a transfer. They may even chase you back. I took the same bus later that day.
Transfers are intended to connect passengers to another bus.
“We are removing up to eight to 10 people from the bus,” said one plainclothes inspector.
Another MTA official said the uniforms some inspectors wear are often enough to scare away potential freeloaders, but some try to push their luck.
“[One rider] “I took the bus and didn’t pay,” they said. “We told him he had to pay. He said, 'I'm not paying, get out of here.' I asked him, “How old are you?” He said, “I'm old enough.”
“We told him to get off the bus,” the inspector said. “I asked for his age because if he is over 65, then we are free to make our own decisions. If we see someone wearing a uniform to go to work, we have no discretion. You can authorize the person to wear it.
transportation announced an enforcement program On August 3, after years of huge losses due to fare evasion (approximately $312 million in 2022 alone),
Overall, the MTA said fare evasion rates rose from 21% in 2020 to nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2024.
The EAGLE team was launched at a number of troubled stops in Queens and Brooklyn.
An agency spokesperson told the Post last week that the most recent statistics currently available only cover through the end of June, before the program began.
But at the Sept. 23 MTA board meeting, New York City Transit Authority Interim Chairman Demetrius Crichlow said that in the first two weeks alone, there were 3,200 paid bus rides per day.
“Our fare inspections are now impacting the travel of tens of thousands of passengers every day, and we are beginning to see the real impact of our efforts,” Crichlow told the board. .
“There’s no question that customers are responding,” he said. “They're applauding. I see people driving around saying, 'It's time.' Thank you for all your efforts. ”
“This speaks to the feeling of people who have continued to pay and feel kind of discouraged by the fact that no one else, or many people, are paying,” he added. “Customers love it.”
