MTA crackdown on bus fare evaders underway, summonses issued
NEW YORK (WABC) -- With almost half of New York City bus riders not paying to ride, a crackdown on bus fare evasion got underway Thursday, and scofflaws were hit with fines.
A warning was sent to riders earlier this week that enforcement was set to begin and they needed to pay the fare.
Eyewitness News cameras were rolling Thursday as the crackdown began in earnest: Riders were pulled off a bus after it was found that they allegedly did not pay their fares by EAGLE teams, backed up by the NYPD. EAGLE members work to spot bus fare evaders.
When the doors opened up at East 97th Street and Fifth Avenue, team members asked the customers to get off the bus and summons were immediately issued.
The interim president of the MTA, Demetrius Crichlow, said that what Eyewitness News saw was not out of the ordinary.
"It's not a surprise. I think the one change is the overt and covert operation. We have EAGLE team members at different locations, and NYPD officers with them. But, a different approach is having people who are not in uniform riding with our customers and then being identified as someone who did not pay their fare," Crichlow said.
While fare evaders saw penalties for not playing by the rules, EAGLE team members walked up and down bus aisles, letting riders know a fare is required to hop on and that enforcement will be increased.
The MTA says this summer, 48% of bus riders are not paying. That's more than just before COVID in January 2020. Riders Eyewitness News spoke to said people should just pay the fare.
"This has been going on for a while, I've seen it," Michelle R., a rider, said. "One time I was riding on the bus and a guy was sitting next to me and he was taking people off the bus because they hadn't paid the fare."
Jamal Jones, a rider, said: "I've seen those guys and ladies walk through and I think, it will be my luck the police will come get me. Meanwhile, 15, 20 others will walk through."
Sherrill Fay said fellow riders should just pay up. "I am sure there are circumstances where there can be concessions made, but that's not up to me to make those decisions."
Last month, the MTA said fare evasion was to blame for projected budget deficits in the next four years. That's added to the billions missed out on with the pause on congestion pricing.
MTA officials said 41 of the 314 bus routes in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island were targeted on Thursday.
Officials said bus routes in Brooklyn will be enforced on Friday.
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