NYC launches crackdown on bus fare-beaters

August 29, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

In this Oct. 22, 2020, file photo, passengers board a bus near the Fordham Metro North station, in New York. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File

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CITYWIDE — NEW YORK CITY AND MTA have launched a crackdown on people beating the fares on city buses, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday in an interview on 94.7 The Block’s “Jonesy in the Morning” radio show. Almost half of all bus riders fail to pay, and many mistakenly think buses are free now. “The goal is not to be heavy-handed, but the goal is to send a strong message,” Adams told interviewer Wayne Mayo. “Everyday New Yorkers struggle [to] find that MetroCard, and it’s just not right to increase the fares based on those who just don’t feel they should have to pay their share of their transportation.” Mayo jokingly called the crackdown “Operation Bus Beatdown.”

MTA guards will look for riders who skip the fare and escort them off the bus at stops staffed by NYPD officers, who could issue a summons ranging from $50 to $100 or even make an arrest, The New York Times reported.

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