The Alvin Braggs of society are a big part of the problem.
Manhattan Contrarian ping
It’s not free evasion the city has to worry about...
Per AI
Based on the search results, the number of New York subway attacks has fluctuated over the past few years, with some increases and decreases reported. Here are the key statistics:
In 2023, there were 1,120 violent index crimes reported on the subway, compared to 935 in 2019, representing a 20% increase.
From January 1 to March 3, 2024, there were 388 incidents reported on the subway, compared to 343 during the same period in 2023, indicating a 13.1% increase.
In the first quarter of 2024 (January 1 to March 31), there were 538 subway crimes recorded, averaging six crimes per day.
Felony assaults on the subway dropped 11% in early 2024 compared to the previous year (49 vs. 55).
However, attacks on trains that left victims injured jumped 53% from 373 in 2019 to 570 in 2023.
Probably soon be deemed racist to charge a fare to ride.
Simple solution. Gather statistics, and remove bus stops / close stations where more than 25% of the riders board without paying. Then over several years, move that number down to 5%. Soon they will only be carrying paying riders, they can remove older equipment from service, and lay off the excess employees, reducing costs significantly.
On a lighter yet related note, here’s the Kingston Trio’s MTA song:
https://youtu.be/_oaVU0I_oCA?si=irjFZNFkeGm-AzEZ
Just start arresting them and the problem is solved.
Kind of like a parent that wonders why their children do not behave. No enforcement.
Put a camera on the styles and an arresting officer around the corner. Keep the cameras and have officers in place as needed.
Make the fines steep enough that they include a transit pass for them in the future.
The researcher should have done their research in Manhattan along the busy east side 1st and 2nd avenue bus routes, instead of intentionally concentrating on a route with many “mostly” black residents. They would have noticed on 1st and 2nd avenue bus routes, which pass through poor, middle class and rich neighborghoods, that “fare beating” on the buses has no dominant “race” or “ethnicity”, all sorts of people do it equally.
The real issue is it does not matter why.
The MTA could have spent the $1 million dollars better by putting MTA officers on the buses, often enough and random enough, stopping fare beaters, and they would have developed psychology in the bus riders that they could get caught any time. Doing something would have been better than asking why.
It’s much the same as when activists insist that the judicial system is racist because so many black men are in prison. They ignore the fact that it is black men who commit the majority of violent crimes.
They can’t arrest fare dodgers because the majority of them are black and that would be considered racist.
Perhaps linking bus Wi-Fi and subway cell phone service to fare paying might help.
I take the bus in LA. People brazenly board the bus without paying, often boarding at the back door to avoid the driver. Yes, virtually all are POC.
They’ll come up with the only solution that leftists can...they’ll raise the fares so that those who do pay can subsidize the law breakers
What's changed now is that they're trying to raise fares but paying riders have walked in with the lawyers; "before you raise the rates on us, go collect the fares you're already owed."
I remember living in Kiev, Ukraine for a few months 10 years ago. The metro fare was 6 to 9 cents. Everybody paid.
When Giuliani was mayor, he stopped it.
All it would take is setting up a hidden camera looking at the turnstiles, and noting the fare beaters on the video.
Commies don’t pay bus fare because everything is free under communism!
NY City is both the welfare capital of America and also the black political activism capital of America. MTA is in trouble until that changes.
And it gets both supported and bailed-out by the rest of America thanks to our printed, fiat monetary system and massive government debt.
Was in NYC last week; you can now pay on buses and subway with a quick pass of your phone (obv you have to have your phone set up with a credit card). No cash, no Metro card, no special app...it’s never been easier to pay.
When I was going to Columbia University in the 1950s, if I remember correctly the subway fare was ten cents (a silver dime).