New York Gov. Kathy Hochul shared the latest progress on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) multifaceted plan to combat fare evasion and improve fare collection across the subway, on buses and commuter railroads, and toll collection on bridges and tunnels. 

As a result of increased ridership and efforts to combat fare evasion, fare revenue is up 67% compared to 2021. 

MTA’s Fare Evasion Reduction Measures

Over the last two years, the MTA has implemented a series of strategic measures to reduce fare evasion centered around equity, education, enforcement, and environment. 

With 40% of the MTA’s operating budget coming from fare and tolls, fare compliance directly impacts the MTA’s ability to run the system — every paid fare keeps the trains and buses running and supports a better transit system. 

With support from multiple anti-fare evasion strategies, total fare revenue is trending up, reaching $5 billion for 2024 and increased by $322 million from 2023.

“These numbers show that our comprehensive strategy to combat fare and toll evasion is working and system users and taxpayers are benefitting,” Governor Hochul said. “We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal — including increased enforcement efforts and new infrastructure — to prevent fare evasion, hold perpetrators accountable and keep these numbers trending in the right direction.”

Improving the System

The MTA is setting new ridership and service records. 

The subway has reached its best Customer Journey Time Performance (CJTP) in subway history, at 86%; buses are traveling up to 20% faster in Manhattan since the launch of the Congestion Relief Zone program; and the commuter railroads are operating with record level on-time performance with Metro-North achieving a 99% on-time performance for March, and the LIRR, 96%.

In an effort to bring back more riders, the MTA focused on adding and improving service, while investing in subway safety. 

In 2023 — with support from Gov. Hochul and State legislature — the MTA began a series of phased service enhancements across 12 subway lines, which is now complemented by service increases on eight express bus routes that went into effect on March 30; more enhancements are slated to come June 29 across 16 local bus routes.

With more service and more riders, major crime on the subways is down 11% this year. This follows significant efforts to create a safer environment with more police in the system, including two officers on every train overnight, cameras in every subway car, installation of LED lighting at every station, and expanding the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT) to address cases of severe mental illness in the system.

Simplifying the System

Subways and Buses

The MTA has focused on making the system easier to use by simplifying the payment process and saving customers the guess work on what fare product is the most cost efficient for them. Sixty-seven percent of subway and bus riders are now using the tap-and-go contactless fare payment.

Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad

The popular TrainTime app, with a 4.9 app store rating, makes it easy for customers to check travel times, buy commuter rail tickets, learn of real-time service updates, chat with a live representative, and much more. Ninety-three percent of customers use the app to look up schedules and/or purchase tickets, resulting in 71% of all railroad revenue coming from tickets purchased in the app.

Fortifying the System

The MTA has taken several steps to tackle evasion tactics across the subways and buses to create a stronger, more resilient system against fare evasion, including turnstile modifications, installations of delayed egress on emergency exits, and the deployment of gate guards. 

Ninety percent of all turnstiles have been reconfigured to prevent backcocking — a form of fare evasion where subway riders attempt to pass through a turnstile by pulling it back just enough to squeeze through without paying — and more than 200 stations are assigned gate guards. Stations with gate guards have seen a 36% reduction in fare evasion.

At gates with delayed egress, there was a 10% drop in total fare evasion. Currently operational at more than 70 stations, the MTA is on track to expand delayed egress to 150 stations by the end of the year.

At stations where turnstile sleeves and fins were installed, there was a 60% decrease in turnstile jumping.