MESSAGE
| DATE | 2024-08-26 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [Hangout - NYLXS] Say what?
|
On 8/26/24 9:08 PM, Ruben Safir wrote:
> “The MTA uses your fares to hire more bus operators and mechanics,
> expand and modernize our fleet, and improve frequency and reliability,”
> the MTA said in a statement. “When you pay your fares, you are helping
> us deliver better service to the over two million New Yorkers who rely
> on buses every single day.”
>
> https://nypost.com/2024/08/26/us-news/mta-deploys-crew-of-enforcers-to-stomp-out-fare-beating-as-neary-half-of-nyc-bus-riders-dont-pay/
>
> You would think the bus drivers and mechanics would be the first
> priority and a majority of the budget...
>
>
> you know... drive the buses and keep them working..
>
>
Fare evasion is so rampant on city buses that almost half of all riders
aren’t paying – as scrambling transit officials deploy a new crew of
enforcers to catch the freeloaders.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s unarmed “fare inspectors”
will be stationed in buses and at bus stops after fare evasion
skyrocketed from 21% in 2020 to roughly 50% in the first quarter of 2024
— costing estimated millions in lost revenue every year.
“The MTA uses your fares to hire more bus operators and mechanics,
expand and modernize our fleet, and improve frequency and reliability,”
the MTA said in a statement. “When you pay your fares, you are helping
us deliver better service to the over two million New Yorkers who rely
on buses every single day.”
An MTA Agent checking bus rider's fare receipt at multiple stop locations. 5
An MTA agent checks a bus rider’s fare receipt at multiple stop
locations. ZUMAPRESS.com
Bus hopping has cost the transit system $312 million in 2022 alone,
according to the agency — sapping a pool of money that helps fund about
a quarter of the system’s budget.
MTA bus driver Curtis Carrington, 43, who has been driving for nine
years, told The Post farebeating was so common it was comical — and
scoffed at the idea drivers should be the ones responsible for enforcing.
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His job, he said, starts and finishes with getting passengers safely
from point A to point B, nothing more, nothing less.
“I see it all the time — everyday,” Carrington said. “Out of a busload
of people — let’s say 10 people got on, maybe two paid.
“I just look the other way — we’re taught not to fight the fare,”
Carrington added. “We’ve got people that have gotten assaulted and
stabbed because of them fighting the fare.”
A general view of an MTA bus in New York, NY. 5
Fare evasion has contributed to the $428 million budget deficit the MTA
is slated to see by 2027 – a gap that could only grow larger with
stalled congestion pricing. Christopher Sadowski
If the inspectors fare better in fighting fare evasion remains to be
seen. Inspectors can ask fare jumpers to get off a bus or can issue a
ticket between $50 and $100, according to the MTA.
The inspectors were “soft launched” last year but expanded funding in
the 2024 fiscal year will allow for up to 100 inspectors in the 2024
fiscal year, with the staff to be supported by NYPD officers.
The latest rollout comes during an ongoing initiative to get fare
payments back up to pre-pandemic levels – including fare enforcement on
the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, as well as gate guards at
subway stations.
One MTA ticket booth attendant in Brooklyn has even taken it upon
himself to announce brazen scofflaws over the loudspeaker in order to
get the attention of cops patrolling the station.
The MTA will be installing permanent partitions (pictured) near the bus
driver's seat to allow passengers to once again enter the vehicle
through the front door of the buses. 5
Fare inspectors will be able to issue tickets, the MTA said. Gregory P.
Mango
While bus drivers have historically shouldered the burden of fare
enforcement, the tides shifted due to a policy that emerged in 2008
after a Brooklyn bus driver was stabbed by a fare evader, Gothamist
reported.
Protected cockpits for bus drivers were unveiled in 2023, according to
the union representing MTA bus drivers, and aimed to protect drivers
from “unhinged riders” who could “reach around partitions to strike or
throw objects,” the union said last year.
But the glass barriers didn’t solve all issues on the bus. Last year, an
MTA inspector was shot during a dispute over a bus ticket.
MTA bus drivers Curtis Carrington and Arlanda Jones. 5
MTA bus drivers Curtis Carrington, 43, and Arlanda Jones, 42. Dorian Geiger
Bulletproof protective cockpits should be prioritized by the MTA to
protect their drivers, Carrington told The Post.
“I think it’s a priority, honestly, for our safety,” he said.
Fellow MTA bus driver Arlanda Jones agreed.
“We don’t even know where they’re coming from. They could have a razor,”
Jones, 42, said. “They could have a knife.
“People have been calling me a bitch all the time. And I didn’t even do
anything. I don’t [deserve it] — but I still get them to where they got
to go safely. That’s my job. So I swallow that,” she added.
An MTA hybrid bus is seen in Manhattan, New York City. 5
The new statistics also come as the MTA’s five-year plan assumes an
increase for 4% in 2025 and another 4% in 2027. Jimin Kim/SOPA
Images/Shutterstock
The expanded rollout this year comes as 46.9% of local bus riders and
56.6% SBS bus riders dodged payments in the first quarter of 2024.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive
http://www.coinhangout.com - coins!
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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