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New York City taxpayers could be on the hook for cost of fare and toll scofflaws
Fare and toll evasion has skyrocketed in New York City since the COVID pandemic, and a new report from budget experts warns that New York taxpayers may face rising costs due to the scofflaws’ free rides.
The Citizens Budget Commission sounded the alarm this week, saying that the MTA likely lost more than $700 million to people who skipped the agency’s transit fares or evaded tolls at bridges and tunnels in 2023. It likened the financial hit “to the amount of funding that would be raised through two rounds of fare hikes.”
The report comes as the NYPD and MTA officials have argued that cracking down on fare evasion is a matter of public safety. They say that many perpetrators of violence in the system also don’t pay the fare. The Citizens Budget Commission wrote that widespread fare-beating also carries a significant economic cost that could trickle down to law-abiding users of public transit.
Ana Champeny, the commission’s vice president of research, said the annual cost of fare and toll evasion has grown by roughly $400 million since 2020. And as the number of riders who pay to ride trains and buses lags behind the MTA’s projections, she warned that transit officials and state lawmakers may look to raise fares, tolls and taxes.
“Ultimately, someone is having to pay the cost. And for those riders and drivers who are continuing to do the right thing and pay their fares and pay their tolls, they may ultimately have to bear a larger cost,” Champeny said.
The report notes that the problem of fare and toll evasion isn’t exclusive to the transit agency. The city Department of Transportation lost upwards of…
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