New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) CEO Janno Lieber said Wednesday that fare evasion by subway and bus riders is threatening the financial health of the nation's largest public transit provider and its ability to improve service. "This is a fundamental threat to our ability to provide first-class public transportation that makes it better, more frequent and more reliable. So we have to fight back," Janno Lieber said at the agency's monthly board meeting.
About 13% of subway riders didn't pay their fare in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 5% in the final quarter of 2019, according to the MTA. The MTA operates New York City's subway, bus and commuter rail lines. Fare evasion on buses is even more serious, with 45% of bus passengers evading fares in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 20.6% in the fourth quarter of 2019.
MTA Chief Financial Officer Kevin Willens said the MTA's fare revenue is expected to reach about $5.1 billion by 2024, but if the number of paying riders on subways and commuter rail does not increase, those revenues could fall by $200 million to $400 million annually. In December, the agency slashed its 2024 bus revenue estimates by $100 million because of fare evasion on these vehicles.
The practice of jumping or manipulating turnstiles and entering the subway system through open emergency doors to evade fares has surged during the pandemic, costing the MTA about $700 million annually, up from about $230 million annually before 2020, according to the MTA.
The agency began revamping the turnstiles last year to prohibit people from maneuvering through them without paying. The MTA also plans to install new infrastructure to prevent passengers from jumping over turnstiles.