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.