By Avis Lang
Who are the subway fare beaters who cost the MTA $285 million last year? If you think they’re all lithe young male turnstile jumpers, I want to undercut that image.
Picture this. It’s late afternoon on an early June Saturday on the crowded downtown platform of the 1 train at 79th Street. I’m standing a bit south of the southerly entrance—the one with a single barred turnstile, not something anybody could jump. Just north of that turnstile is an “emergency exit.”
Several yards away, I happen to see a solidly built woman wearing noticeably non-Manhattan clothing opening the exit door to let her two companions onto the platform without paying. Is she doing this stealthily? Not at all. More like the straightforward way one might pull out a shopping cart from a cluster beside the door at CVS or Zabar’s.
Every woman in this trio is well past middle age—younger than I but certainly not young and certainly familiar with paying for services. All appear to be standard-issue tourists from the Heartland. Are they heading for Times Square? Had they splurged on $200 tickets for a Broadway show? Will they be having dinner and a glass of wine nearby, where it will cost them at least $50 apiece? Are they staying at a large hotel in our neighborhood, at a likely price of more than $300 a night?
No, I did not walk over to them and deliver an I-saw-what-you-did denunciation. Instead I’m resorting to a post-mortem on a screen. But please, next time you hear a reference to fare beating, don’t assume it’s just done by athletic teenage boys.
In fact, for the MTA to have lost out on $690 million worth of unpaid bus fares, subway fares, train tickets, and vehicle tolls in 2022, every category of person must be committing petty crimes—with extremely non-petty consequences for the city.
The 3 gals are worth an article here? Seriously? Lifelong NY’er here who could care less about the lost MTA revenue from casual out of towner fare beating because the corrupt MTA wastes more than you could possibly imagine, might as well pour the extra revenue down a sewer. What does and has concerned me for 50+ years of subway riding are violent young thugs, more so now that my gray hair makes me a mark. The $690 Mil includes an awful lot of folks who simply would not be on transit if they had to pay, so it’s probably a fraction of that, BTW, not even counting the near certainty that the MTA pulled that # more or less of thin air, it is suspiciously almost exactly 10% of the amount that MTA report as it’s actual fare revenue., 6.87 billion $. https://new.mta.info/budget/MTA-operating-budget-basics
You are saying that because of its other problems, the MTA should not try to cut down on fare beating? That does not follow.
NYC Guy,
Lifelong New Yorker too – and am definitely upset about all the fare-beating – on buses and subway.
I imagine it is undercounted.
Why are you that upset about fare evasion ? We should actually ask the question of what income bracket those who complain are in . I can assure you most people upset about fare evasion are of a certain privileged class. Working class people wouldn’t complain as we have evaded fares at least a few times in our lives . And we are also aware of the paychecks the higher ups receive . So just ask to have the pay redistributed and it will compensate for fare evasion . Don’t worry too much .
I got news for you – all working class people are not common criminals. Some are honest and law abiding citizens who pay their fare all the time. I would think they are more outraged about fare beaters than the “privileged class”.
The fare is very reasonable
Hi Ali,
Actually I am a fourth generation New Yorker, my partner is third generation.
(Not suburban transplants.)
Actually as a high school student (public) I was ticketed for using a subway pass after school hours 🙂
My partner and I are government workers.
Does that answer the privileged question?
How about yourself ?
I said most , and good for you for stating your credentials. I stand by the “most” comment and suggest that you ask yourself the top 50 issues facing your life right now. is fare evasion or who does it one of them ? now I know , youre going to say” well they are going to increase fares as a result of fare evasion” ,. and to that I already responded, Just cut down and redistribute higher wages to cover the costs, You can’t defeat fare evasion without defeating the reasoning behind it. Also , is everyone here that upset that upset that they have to pay and a small group of people dont ? That line of thinking is so ridiculous, Is this where peoples energy on ‘injustice” goes to ? Let’s show this same energy towards other more pressing issues .
“…we have evaded fares at least a few times in our lives.”
Speak for yourself. While I’m part of what you call “a certain privileged class” today, I grew up very working class. I never jumped a turnstile or otherwise evaded the fare. Not once.
If I pay for my ticket, you should pay for your ticket. That way we all benefit from paying into our public transportation system. That’s the social contract.
When people feel they are too special to play by this very simple rule, the social contract frays. We end up with dirty, unsafe subways…which is what we currently have.
Because nobody in Europe, with their much better metros that are cheaper to make than the US’s, and NY’s specifically, had ever beat the fare!!
Face it, the issue of jumping, while real, has nothing to do with the terrible state of the MTA. If we’re out-unioning EUROPE, we’ve got a major, major problem.
If every jumper suddenly started paying for ten years straight with not a single fare beater left in existence, our transit would still be terrible, overpriced, over budget, and corrupt.
Not paying is rampant. And now they want to raise the fare so those of us who do pay can pay more than our fair share. It’s unlikely I’ll start cheating the system.to avoid this increase. But I do sometimes feel like a schmuck for paying when so many ride for free.
Exactly! They want the law-abiding people to subsidize the law breakers.
This is unusual logic so you’re saying just because people lie cheat steal or commit crimes it upsets you cuz you don’t do it . Does that mean you want to do it . I don’t understand your comment
I thought their meaning was crystal-clear. They resent that they obey the laws and pay for services, while people who do not obey the laws and steal get away with it. The commenter does not want to commit crimes; they want others to play by the rules, and if they do not, to faced punishment so that they modify their behavior.
Go to the C and B train on 103rd and CPW. It’s complete chaos. 10 year old girls to middle aged men. All over the turnstiles or through the emergency gate. It’s constant, all day, all night.
50th Street C and E. Even 72nd and B’way, right in front of MTA workers. Often I’m the only one I see who pays.
We hear stories about turnstile jumpers like the women talked of in this reporting…but…every time I ride an MTA Bus, during my ride at least 2 people (sometimes more) get into the bus, look at the driver, and bass on to a seat paying nothing…nothing is said to them…they ride for free. Each time I see it happen I feel like I’m a jerk for paying my fare…when they ride for free.
Then there are the ones who are straight up about it, get on the bus and give the driver some story and the driver waves them on. Yesterday, one woman did that and 4 of them got on the bus for free.
As an 24 year, mta nyct bus operator who does challenge a ‘fare’ share of backdoor/walk-on-by’s (and I know it’s rare) I thank u for doing the right thing!:)..Jeep it up..Don’t sink to their dispicable level. That will soon be significantly reduced in the near future. Believe it.
P. Kelly,
Thank you!
And to all MTA bus operators.
NYC buses are the best
And three cheers for all the patient, considerate NYC bus operators I’ve encountered over the years — especially the ones who swoop in close to the curb so that those of us who have canes can easily get in & out of the bus. How do so many of you stay so friendly when you have to deal with so much traffic??!!
Absolutely the case! I usually have to squelch my impulse to say something to the driver. But I understand they are in fear of retaliation.
You’re not a jerk for paying your fare: you’re doing the right thing. But I can understand your frustration.
Do bus drivers allow some passengers to ride without paying? Sure. I’ve seen them wave on people who seem mentally disabled, confused, don’t speak English, are from out of town and don’t understand the system, can’t find their Metrocards, or in some cases seem threatening.
The drivers are in a physically vulnerable position and need to avoid confrontation whenever possible. They also have a schedule to maintain. Arguing with every confused person (or actual deadbeat) delays a busload of passengers. So I understand when they make the decision to say “go ahead.”
I ride the bus most days of the week on the major routes, I see on an average ride more than 15 + board without paying a fare. Very few ask to ride, others just come on in. What’s going to happen when the fare is increased? It’s a situation that is out of control.
In my experience, it would be a more finite question to ask “Who *IS* paying the fare?”
What you describe is an apt illustration of what I, and presumably everyone else, sees any time on the subway platform. It always leads me to challenge myself, rhetorically, “Why should *I* pay a fare?”
For whatever it’s worth, I do pay my fare, always. (Yes, I’m the one.) That’s just the way I was brought up.
Reports of lost revenue from fare beating is a distraction from where the money is really being siphoned from. Don’t fall for it.
I think many of us feel.frusttated by this because we do pay. Why are we spending money to take subways and busses when it seems to not be required? Whatever fraud waste and abuse ithe MTA is responsible fir impacts us all equally while me paying my gate while others don’t feels like a tax and the good guys.
I had to re-read the article twice. What on earth was it about? The author witnessed several middle-aged women wearing “ noticeably non-Manhattan clothing” using the service door without paying? How many times did the author see something like this? Is it a regular occurrence? Do we have mid-Westerners attacking our vulnerable subway system and raking up this huge bill of $285 million?
MJB, this isn’t hard: it’s about challenging the assumption that fare beaters are all teenage boys. That part was clear.
Now whether it was worth writing, that’s another discussion.
They may not ALL be, the majority are indeed young, able-bodied men.
What is the point exactly the article trying to make? That it is not local thugs but tourists that are abusing our subway system? Are these middle-aged female out-of-towners also committing other subway crimes like assaulting fellow commuters? Or is it their non-Manhattanite sense of fashion that happens to be the biggest crime? How many ladies like that OP sees on daily basis to compare to “young lithe men”?
Fare beating is rampant on both bus and subway. As bad as it is in Manhattan, truly unbelievable to see in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Yes seemingly many fare beaters are teens- 20s.
But there are also the slightly older people holding Starbucks farebeaters…
BTW people with low incomes may qualify for Fair Fares.
And students living more than a half a mile from school get MetroCards.
Has anyone ever questioned the real reasons behind why people not pay”? It appears as though some individuals are forgetting that maybe people are in a different income bracket than them. I fail to comprehend the purpose of this article, aside from potentially sensationalizing fare evasion to cater to the interests of the privileged class. This is the same logic corporations use to raise prices on the people by saying it’s because of shrink.
It seems the point of this article is that there may be a misconception about who exactly the fare beaters are. They may be a cross section of all sorts of people. When the MTA decided to get rid of the fare booths in most subway stations it didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that plenty of people would be jumping the turnstiles. I have been surprised at some of those I’ve seen hopping over. Or walking through the doors.
Sometimes you really have to wonder about the critical judgment of the MTA.
Yes, I see a lot of “respectable” people walking insouciantly through the emergency exit. It always makes me angry.
It’s pointless to write about perceptions of who’s beating the fare. All of us see it with regularity. And while the estimate of lost revenue probably erroneously includes those who would not use the system if they had to pay, clearly it’s still a big number and, equally as – or more – important, it makes the rest of us feel like fools. The subway piece should be reduced significantly as they install single-use extended heavy plastic barriers and lock those absurd slam gates. The back-door bus farebeating is another problem entirely and I’m curious how the MTA plans to deal with that. For my money, the day they decided to decriminalize farebeating (and that was pre-Bragg) was the beginning of the escalation. As far as I’m concerned, they should arrest farebeaters using plainclothes police and handcuff them. Once word got around you’d see a big reduction. I believe that farebeaters contribute disproportionately to crime in the system, so there would be an ancillary benefit. And regarding those who cannot afford to pay – there are ways to lighten the burden for them within the confines of a fare-paying system.
The DA offices decided they will not prosecute theft of service for turn style jumping. District Attorneys deciding that they will not enforce whole classes of laws. So guess what happened people stopped paying the fare, so then others saw this and decided why should I pay if others are not. This does not cost the MTS it cost New Yorkers. When are New Yorkers going to figure out making villains out of your Police department is a really bad idea?
Interestingly, I saw the same thing a few years ago (pre-pandemic) and I gently reprimanded the tourists, reminding them that this is our Subway and we need to pay for it. They looked surprised so I don’t know what information they had— why they thought it was OK to just walk on. And hold the door open for each other. I try be nice to tourists even when they’re breaking rules (like biking in the wrong place) because I want them to have a good experience and come back, but I definitely thought it was out of line to cheat on the subway. Another thing I do is when I see somebody who looks like they’re going to jump the turnstile is I offer them a swipe from my credit card. And if somebody asks me for a swipe, then I whip my credit card and do it because I’m glad they’re asking rather than fare beating.
Pray tell. What the heck is non-Manhattan clothing?
Midwestern tourists. How people dress in the movie Fargo.
Well, its like the old Supreme Court line about pornography: I don’t know what it is but I know it when I see it…
NYC subway serves around 750 million rides per year.
Contemplating who the scofflaws are or what they look like is absurd. Maybe if all of them were caught, a rough approximation might be established, for what it’s worth.
Good luck with that.
As for the act of turnstile jumping, angry citizens declare “This is not who we are”.
People say this about mass shootings too, every time.
Others, like many from other countries rightly say, “Yes it is.”
To solve these kinds of problems, begin there.
By the way, in other cities I visit I observe the same treatment of bus passengers allowed to ride for free. I guess it is an act of civil compassion, else why would it be so commonplace?
In Amsterdam and other places in the Netherlands, it is necessary to swipe out when exiting mass transit (subway/tram/bus in Amsterdam; tram/bus in other places) to ensure payment of fares.
Goeff, I have lived in NYC during the days when you were not allowed to get on the bus if you didn’t have the fare. These were the days when subway token booth clerks were not behind bullet proof glass and stopped those who were turnstile jumping. Lack of law enforcement is creating this problem. We can’t ignore crime and expect to maintain our system.
me too. 1972, The Bronx, 163 Street, IRT. things seem a lot better nowadays.
In Italy a tourist may think that no Italians pay to ride the bus. Actually, some Italians do evade payment (I saw the authorities take away one fare beater in Palermo), but most have a monthly or weekly pass.
What is non Manhattan clothing?
I agree 100%. I ride the M86 select bus. I get on at CPW and I’m amazed at how many people of all ages get on without buying a ticket. Okay, some are going to swipe a card for Omni ones on board but the majority are just not paying. I would estimate that about 25% of the riders on the bus have not paid. if what I witness at CPW happens at every stop.
NYC is devolving into a laws optional society and it’s a slippery slope. Next week, how about an expose on who is really stealing from CVS and Duane Read? After that, who obeys traffic rules and who doesn’t? Who pays for groceries, it may surprise you? Who steals from Gucci? Who pays rent and who doesn’t?
Why have laws if they aren’t being enforced? Do we need these laws to maintain an orderly society? If we don’t then get rid of the laws but this selective enforcement is really the problem.
Or is this really an economic philosophy question? Why should anyone pay for anything in life? Why work then and just make everything free? No fair right?
I have witnessed the very same. Many times.
My opinion is that riding mass transit should be FREE. It is way too expensive as it is and fare hikes mainly hit the working class.
How about looking at the salaries of all the MTA officials? Maybe we could start with cuts there?
MTA needs to find a better way to make people pay to get on the subway. Difference turn styles. Opening the doors from the inside with an MTA ticket that has not been used within 17 minutes; i.e. charging the user another fare. Get rid of the paper tickets on the buses where people can enter any door; or add a way to check the ticket electronicaly onceo n the bus. Instead of fixing the problems they just increase the fare fosr s the r est of us.
A while back the MTA made a decision to remove most attendant booths and attendants in the subway. There is no longer a live person at most stations, including at the 1 Train at 79 street mentioned in this article. I wonder if an increase in fare beating can be correlated to this decision. It’s easier to commit a crime when no one is watching and the chance of getting caught is almost nil. I doubt the compensation of those booth attendants equaled $690m, so a “penny-wise and pound-foolish” decision by the MTA? They need to redesign the turnstiles to be like those in London or Paris, where it is nearly impossible to break through. $690m is a lot of lost revenue.
Given the attitude today of many fearbeaters, having an attendant in the booth change very little.
What is non Manhattan clothing?
Polyester pantsuit in leopard print, pink pom-pom slippers, green vinyl handbag
Perhaps, just perhaps, we citizens should insist that laws be enforced. I know that’s a novel notion in a city where people can steal cartloads of products from drugstores and supermarkets, but, hey you never know! Actually enforcing the law could work.
I have to admit I jumped a turnstile in Queens a few months ago because otherwise I would have been the only person paying and I didn’t want to draw that attention to myself.
i am currently in london and in their subway, the “Underground”, they do not use turnstiles, but 2 quite tall gates with very low bottoms. it would be extremely difficult for anyone to jump them. It also requires great strength to get them open.
this simple fix would cost a lot of money and time to implement . However, it will save about $700,000,000/year* & the project would pay for itself over time. It would also encourage better community behavior
*Most probably the current problems will increase over time if we do not change the turnstile situation.
It’s also a serious problem on MTA city buses where it’s done with the total acceptance and acknowledgment of the drivers who nod to the fare beaters as they pass by…
Don,
There have been a number of attacks on bus drivers and many bus drivers are afraid.
On the other hand, I recently saw a group of college-age tourists board a bus and not pay (not sure why?).
The bus driver called them to the front to pay – and they did when he showed them they could use credit cards.
People are beating the mass transit fares and stealing from retail stores like it’s legal. Why? Because there are no consequences.
Where are the police? Why aren’t there more police on the platforms and by the turnstiles? Why does it take them so long to respond to emergency calls.?
The mayor needs to make fixing the situation his highest priority.
A few months ago, I got off the #1 heading to the S shuttle and I was talking to two uniformed cops as I saw two others leaning against a railing facing the turnstiles and two others walking about as young men were impudently leaping over the turnstiles. I pointed that out to one of the cops I was talking to, who replied “I didn’t see that!”, but the two cops who were leaning were facing the incident and did nothing. This indicates to me that if the DA is not going to prosecute, why should they bother? Look, if the man who was put into the chokehold and died after having been arrested 40 times was still on the loose, what does that say about the more minor fare-beating and the cops lackadaisical efforts?
Fare beating is inexcusable and grossly unfair to the majority who do pay their fares. The MTA has a lot of problems, but the worst of them is the sinking fiscal situation. Something should be done about preventing people from entering via the “emergency” exits, which are used for general exits now. Could we go back to locking those gates, perhaps with some kind of emergency system to unlock them if there is a hazardous condition in the station? Meanwhile, the numerous police whom we see (and cheer!) in the subway should take a more active role in preventing fare avoidance.
Arrest and punish all fare beaters. Make it more difficult to be a fare beater. BUSES NEED TWO DOORS IN THE FRONT YOU STEP ON OUTER DOOR CLOSES YOU PAY AND INNER DOOR OPENS. BACK DOOR INNER DOOR OPENS . YOU STEP DOWN IT CLOSES OUTER DOOR OPENS. THEN CLOSES IF SOME ONE TRIES TO SNEAK ON THEY ARE LOCKED IN UNTIL COP MEETS BUS THAT HAS CONTINUED IT’S ROUTE. IN STORES, THIEVES ARE LOCKED IN AS THE LEAVE SAME SYSTEM PENALTIES – TREATED AS FELONIES, HEAVY FINES AND JAIL TIME. MINORS – PARENTS ARE ARRESTED AND FINED.
Nice idea except it would add about 5 minutes or more to every stop. All you need is some plainclothes police on random buses arresting and handcuffing a few farebeaters and word will get around.
Why should we trust that $690 million figure? Show us the data!The MTA does not have a sound fiscal reputation. The fares are ‘way too high, and need to be reduced
and simplified. Everyone should pay the same, and it must be an equitable price.
And fare-beaters and shoplifters Bragg about it.
A few years ago I was taking a vaparetto (public water bus) in Venice. At the early hour the station was unmanned and I bought a ticket at a machine, paying the highest possible fare (17 euros), thinking I would be covered. Halfway through the trip, a ticket checker, seeing that I was obviously a tourist with suitcase (and heading to the train station) checked my ticket, declared it “the wrong one” and forced me to leave the boat, buy another expensive ticket and wait for the next vaparetto. (I barely made my train to Rome). Perhaps we should hire some of those guys to monitor our public transit.
NYC do something about it ! The police are just milling around on their cellphones.
Eventually the bus system will be free.
Every income bracket is doing it every day, it has become a way of life, nothing is being done to stop it, and i’m tired of paying more because others see no problem in stealing service.
I am continually surprised at the diversity of fare beaters. I’ve seen it too… Your average everyday people that have perfected their duck, shimmy and jump styles. When I see them, I realize, it’s not their first rodeo! Sometimes I detect a slight glimmer of shame but, usually it’s very brazen.
The MTA’s OMNI system is crap. I have been charged even though the turnstile doesn’t move. After paying a few time without any service or ability to get a refund, I now jump the turnstile after paying. The OMNI system charges me after saying card not accepted and refuses entry. It charges again at each retry too. And how much money did MTA waste on the OMNY project? Oh wait they also have to run the old system in parallel. Now they want congestion pricing and fare increase. No amount of money will be enough for MTA. The politicians can’t run it and they should just privatize it and have the city/state offer reduced and free pass for lower income/student etc.
Not sure what the MTA thought would happen when they got rid of most of the “Token Booths”. The clerks would discourage the casual ‘farebeater”.; now there’s nothing stopping them. I even saw guy charging 42.00 to open the door for fare-beaters. The money the MTA is saving by not having booth attendants or station agents can’t equal the money they are loosing in fare evasion.
I’m an MTA station Agent , and you are correct that many types of people aren’t paying their fares. I’ve almost never seen tourists do it , knowingly and understanding how things work . And there are some types of people who do it more than others , but overall it’s just too many ! Their attitudes are disrespectful and out of control , to mta staff and some police . Some police allow it too much . Social progressives try to insist that the fare should be free and covered by our taxes , but the fact remains that it isn’t . Subway booths no longer serve for cash paying customers , and they’re forced to use broken old metrocard vending machines that steal their money and metrocards
thank you Mimi!
I actually saw two cops that were stationed at the 1 train a couple of Saturday’s ago open the exit gate & let about 20 people walk through without paying. I’m assuming they were stationed there to discourage fare beating.
I take the M11 bus on Amsterdam Avenue and the M104 bus on Broadway. Anyone, absolutely anyone can ride for free. Just murmur a few words to the driver and he will nod and allow you to enter without paying. On the subway I have seen middle aged people go through the gate eithout paying. At the 79th Street station on the Number 1 downtown side police officers were on the platform in a place where the illegal entrants could not see them. I even considered warning them. The non-paying entrants went through and the police officers just looked at them. Fare paying is optional now. If you can pay and if you want to pay you do. If not than not.
I teach many low-income students at BMCC who have jumped the turnstiles to get to school. I’m just glad they’re in class. Not everyone qualifies for the accelerated study program that hands out free Metrocards.