tag:reuters.com,2025:newsml_RC2CQHAZAUDU:272834849
(New York, NY) — You’d better pay the bus fare! The MTA is making a big change in how it enforces fare paying for the bus system.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber says he hopes Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will prioritize bus fare enforcement, even as he explores making the bus system free.
”We’re going to move to European-style fare payment enforcement, where you’ll have fare agents, not cops, who can go up to people and say, ‘Can you show me your phone or your OMNY card and I can validate that you paid,’” Lieber said. Personnel could do spot checks on buses. The MTA already uses civilian EAGLE teams on local and Select Bus Services to stop fare evasion. These teams were expanded in 2024 to focus on high fare evasion rates. Governor Kathy Hochul says the EAGLE Team made over 370 stops on buses.
The NYPD is responsible for bus fare enforcement through its Bus Enforcement Unit, but it lacks sufficient staffing, Lieber added.
