Updated (1:45 p.m. with MTA comment): Now that East Side bus riders have had two weeks to acclimate to the pre-boarding fare payment system in use along the M15 Select Bus Service route, NYC Transit has started to beef up its inspection measures. According to the Daily News, fare inspectors have ceased giving out warnings to those who do not have the proof-of-payment receipts and have instead started handing out $100 summonses. MTA officials say their inspectors have written up 40 violators a day — or approximately 0.075 percent of the M15’s daily ridership of 53,000 people, but it’s likely that more have not been paying the fare.
According to the Daily News, Transit is still approaching fare violations on a case-by-case basis. The 30 new fare inspectors and four new supervisors have worked together to determine when a rider should get a ticket. As Pete Donohue reports, those who are “genuinely confused by the new system and [have] a MetroCard” generally will not get written up automatically. Inspectors will instead help introduce these confused riders to the new system.
Reaction to the increased fare enforcement efforts should be met with applause, but certain media outlets played up the news as though it highlights a flaw with the Select Bus Service. The reality is that any business will suffer a small bleed rate, and the MTA and NYC DOT can combat that by a high-profile enforcement blitz in the early weeks of Select Bus Service. If riders hear about targeting ticketing efforts and know they’ll get caught, they will pay. Additionally, the faster service will attract more riders and thus more revenue. So even with fare-evaders hopping on the buses, the M15 Select Bus Service shouldn’t be bleeding revenue. This is but one step on the way to a better bus system.
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This afternoon, I asked the MTA about the costs of the enforcement project after a few SAS readers noted that the hiring numbers seemed high. After all, the authority had recently cut numerous positions and is working its way toward an austerity budget. The authority informed me that these are full-time positions “necessary for appropriate coverage along the entire route on First and Second Avenue seven days a week.” Transit also enjoys “a certain level of ancillary benefits” as well as there have been no reported assaults on bus drivers or felonies along the Bx12 corridor in two years of service. These new employees will also be used along 34th St. when its Select Bus Service corridor is implemented early next year.
24 comments
While I’m all for SBS and ticket inspection, they hired 30 people for this? At an average of $100K per person including health benefits and pension, that’s $3M. Does that really offset what would be lost through fare evasion?
I’d have to believe some of those positions are temporary until people are used to the pre-board fare payment and proof-of-payment systems. I’ll ask around to see if I can find out more about that total. But 40 tickets per day at $100 a ticket is $4000 a day. If they just brought on some fare inspectors for part-time work, that program can pay for itself relatively quickly.
Sure, although this is spread across all of the inspectors, so with 30 inspectors that’s $133 in revenue per inspector for that day. These amounts will also change quite a bit as enforcement goes up: I would imagine a lot fewer people will be getting caught, netting even less revenue per inspector.
What does the final math look like for this? What level of farebeating is optimal, given that the fine for farebeating is 44 times the fare and given that operating inspectors costs a lot of money? Clearly, a 0% fare evasion rate would not be advantageous as no income from enforcement would be generated. What is the optimal level?
Also, and perhaps I missed this, is there any plan to accomodate the running-for-the-bus scenario for those who, like a lot of people, have an unlimited Metrocard? If my understanding is correct, I shouldn’t run to catch the bus even if I can make it because I won’t also have time to stop and buy a ticket at the kiosk? Is there a way to let unlimited riders on and have the inspector verify that they have an unlimited metrocard?
There are handheld card readers. The MTA has not bought any.
You’re right that people with unlimited cards shouldn’t need to swipe. I’ll add and say that people with pay-per-ride cards should be able to swipe on board and not at the station. Fare beating is proportional to how annoying it is to pay.
There are no handheld MetroCard readers. (The MTA hasn’t bought any handheld readers for other sorts of card because they wouldn’t be of any use with the MetroCard system.)
The MetroCard swipe system is too slow to allow on-board swiping on SBS – if more than a few people are boarding, they’ll spill off the bus while they wait to swipe, so the bus will have to wait for them, which defeats the purpose.
The inspector then would become a fare collection point, or operations, instead of functioning in a law enforcement capacity, i.e. show me your ticket or get a ticket.
Getting your ticket with an unlimited ride card is 1 or 2 keystrokes at most. I pushed the button, inserted my card and had my ticket next.
Jumping right on the bus would be the equivalent of running through an open exit gate because you saw the train there. It is not the PO’s job to validate that you indeed have an effective MetroCard. It’s his/her job to give you a ticket for fare beating.
Right. With the advent of this system, it is, indeed, equivalent. Whereas on all other bus lines it’s the equivalent of jumping on the bus and paying your fare. With which, I assume, you see nothing wrong.
Are you suggesting that this is not a noticeable drawback of the new fare control system? From the rider’s standpoint it introduces an inconvenience, and an unnecessary one at that. If you think that this should not be the PO’s job (which it actually is in, say, San Francisco) then maybe there should still be a farebox on the bus that you can swipe into and get a ticket out of if you have an unlimited metrocard. You’d be able to do this at your leisure, while riding the bus, so no one else gets delayed. (This wouldn’t work with pay-per-ride cards, of course, but could easily be an option for unlimited pass holders)
It very well might take 1 or 2 keystrokes to get a ticket at the bus stop but the kiosk might be in use (and there could even be a line). Congratulations, you have now missed the bus. I’m not sure why you’re defending this unnecessary drawback of the new system. I have run for the bus countless times and this would definitely bother me.
One thing about monthly passes in SF. Is they are per month, change color, and are valid for that month (plus 2 or 3 days). Not 30 days beginning whenever.
So checking passes is much easier.
Sorry, Al, but I don’t understand your argument. What’s the difference between having an inspector check that you have a receipt and having an inspector check that you have a valid unlimited monthly?
Alon, under your system, what’s to prevent me from swiping and getting a receipt (which I give to the inspector), and then giving my unlimited card to my pal (who displays it to the inspector)?
The difference is that the inspector has a means of verifying that the receipt is what you claim it is but does not have a means of verifying that your MetroCard is what you claim it is.
The whole point of the system is that YOU pay ahead of time to save time for EVERYBODY else. It doesn’t matter if you have an unlimited card or not. If you have an unlimited card, you get the ticket to prove it, just like everybody else in trams all over Europe. If you can pay on board, then it doesn’t save time.
I’m not that sympathetic to the “running for the bus” argument. It’s not that complicated, just obey the rules. It’s not the end of the world if you miss a bus. It happens to me all the time, even if I am running.
I’m not that sympathetic to the “running for the bus” argument. It’s not that complicated, just obey the rules. It’s not the end of the world if you miss a bus. It happens to me all the time, even if I am running.
Exactly, SBS needs to be treated like a surface subway. If you can’t use the machine in time to pay the fare, don’t board.
If you can pay on board, then it doesn’t save time.
Why not? If you get to swipe your unlimited card after you board and get a ticket while the bus is already underway (which is what I suggested), how does that affect anyone else? It doesn’t work with a pay-per-ride card because you just wouldn’t swipe it until you see the inspector board the bus, but with an unlimited card, what’s the harm?
Honestly, I don’t even see what the big deal is to ask the inspectors to swipe the monthly metrocards to validate them. Again, this would just be the monthlys and not everyone (for the same reason as above). So it’ll be a subset of people.
I don’t think anyone’s saying that the inconvenience makes the entire proof of payment set-up a bad idea. But it is a drawback of the new scheme. Why not admit that? I’m betting everyone here is a monthly pass holder and I bet you’ll find yourself running for the bus soon enough (especially as the program gets expanded to other lines). The next time it happens, I know you’ll say, hey, that chick on the internet was right, I would’ve totally made that bus but now I have to stand here in the freezing rain.
Emily, the point is you want to eliminate as many inspectors as possible. So you don’t want to add a job for them of swiping metro cards and make it acceptable for people to not pay before.
I believe London has a system where you scan your card once you are on the bus, and inspectors check your card for the scan. If the MTA implements a similar system with smartcards then that would be a solution, but until then, if you need a paper ticket, you need a paper ticket.
Those people paid when they got their unlimited monthly cards.
The issue only really comes up when a bunch of people are running to catch the same bus (say, when a connecting bus has just pulled up), and there are more people waiting to pay than there are machines. Otherwise, it takes less than 5 seconds to get a receipt.
I think part of the problem right now is that some people aren’t getting their receipts as soon as they get to the stop – they’re waiting for the bus to approach, and then there’s a mad rush on the machines.
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If you have an unlimited card, you get the ticket to prove it, just like everybody else in trams all over Europe.
All over Europe, people with unlimited cards can board without swiping anything, using the unlimited card itself as a proof of payment.
Big deal. What they need to enforce are the lanes themselves.
I walk past 1st and 2nd Ave. every morning, and I *always* see cars, trucks, and bicyclists in the supposedly “bus-only” lanes.
The system is just not going to work unless those lanes remain clear of everything, and I mean everything, including ConEd trucks, city government vehicles, delivery and courier trucks, bicycles, etc.
Every time a bus has to merge back into the molasses regular traffic to avoid some obstacle, that creates a bottleneck which makes the whole system no better than a conventional bus line, no matter how people are paying their fares.
They really should have made the bus lanes physically separate, with a divider. New York drivers a terrible at following traffic ordinances, even those with stiff penalties attached. Or they think they should be exempted for some reason, or it’s ok if they only park there a few minutes. They need to be physically prevented from entering those lanes.
If there were a divider, then buses wouldn’t be able to pass other buses.
Camera enforcement hasn’t started up yet. I think, once it does, it’ll make a big difference.
Matt, I couldn’t agree more: re the lanes. If the city wants to pay for (gag) 30 more MTA employees, they would better served enforcing against EVERYONE (yes, even ConEd) who parks in the bus lane.
One important question. I ride SBS at least once a day and generally think it’s great and long overdue. However, three times both the machines have been dispensing receipts have either been broken or not giving out receipts. How will the cops handle that situation? will they be able to swipe your metrocard and realize you got no receipt or that your pass allows you to be there?
Alon hits it perfectly: give the cops something that reads our unlimted passes.
http://www.mta.info/nyct/sbs/sbs_payM15.htm
1. That Gothamist critique was uncommonly idiotic. Classic example of exceptionalist “New York is so hard core, that would never work here” thinking that plagues so much discussion of the city.
2. The solution – as always – is to look at what other cities have been doing successfully for decades and do that.