Subway fare evasion has more than doubled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, new MTA stats show.
Fare-beaters accounted for 13.6 percent of subway entries during the third quarter of 2020, from July to September — compared to 6.2 percent in January through March, according to figures released ahead of Wednesday’s MTA board meeting.
The amount of money lost to fare evaders increased only slightly over the same period, to $38 million from $36 million, because the virus crisis had decimated ridership.
Pre-pandemic, officials claimed to have lost approximately $250 million annually to turnstile hoppers.
A memo accompanying the new stats warned against comparisons with pre-pandemic stats, however.
“Calculating and comparing the fare evasion rates this year is problematic due to the dramatic loss of ridership and the demographic of riders,” officials wrote.
“This challenge was exacerbated by the loss of employment with the service industry employees and police reform efforts.”
Transit officials have repeatedly accused NYPD of pulling back from the transit system since anti-cop protests in June. MTA Chairman Pat Foye recently criticized cops for a drop in subway arrests.
“The significant declines in arrests and summonses, given the [crime] activity in the subways, is inexplicable and unacceptable,” Foye said on Oct. 28.
The situation has emboldened scofflaws, MTA insiders allege.
“When they think they can get over or don’t care, knowing that there is no deterrence, they do it,” said one train operator.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised to crack down on fare-beaters in 2019, and put into action plans to hire 500 more MTA police to help with the effort.
The crackdown drew the attention of anti-cop activists, who organized demonstrations marked by widespread vandalism of transit properties.
But the MTA’s public focus on fare evasion has faded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused significantly more financial calamity — transit officials have said they need a $12 billion federal bailout to get through next year.
The pandemic has also delayed plans to update and upgrade the MTA’s survey methodology, which the MTA IG has said likely underestimates evasion rates.
“Fare evasion is a multi-million dollar annual problem that deprives the transit system of critical resources and is unfair to the vast majority of customers who pay their fair share,” MTA rep Abbey Collins said in a statement.
Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein said fare evasion is “an outgrowth of poverty.” He dismissed fare-evasion concerns as a “fake controversy.”
“The MTA repeatedly miscalculated the rate of fare evasion to the point that two Inspector General reports faulted the MTA for having no idea what’s actually going on,” Pearlstein said.
“It’s a drop in the bucket.”
