Why the MTA’s bus drivers don’t enforce the fare

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The MTA is struggling to get New Yorkers to pay to ride the bus, in no small part because drivers don’t enforce the fare.

But for decades, that was a key part of a bus driver’s job.

“When I was a kid, the bus wouldn’t run if you stood there and said, ‘I’m not paying.’ [Either] the bus driver wasn’t going to run the bus or you would have to get off,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said during last week’s MTA board meeting, recalling growing up on the Upper West Side in the 1970s.

But in 2008, Brooklyn bus driver Edwin Thomas was stabbed to death after telling a passenger he needed to pay to ride. And the union representing bus drivers subsequently succeeded in implementing a softer approach toward fare beaters.

“I will not let my operators get involved in fare disputes because that’s not our job,” said J.P. Patafio, head of buses at Transport Workers Union Local 100. “Our job is to drive the bus safely from point A to point B, and getting into arguments about the fare has historically led to an increase in assaults.”

Lieber last week said “too many [bus drivers] have been subject to violence,” and that asking them to enforce the fare would put them in danger.

New York City Transit’s rule book shows fare collection is part of a bus driver’s duties. But Patafio said in practice drivers are only asked to state the cost of the fare, and make a record every time someone doesn’t pay.

Meanwhile, MTA stats show fare beating has spiked dramatically – particularly since the pandemic.

Officials detailed the grim figures at last week’s board meeting: Roughly 47% of bus riders evaded the fare during the first three months of 2024. Last year, the problem cost the agency more than $300 million. And while MTA officials say the actual number of people riding its buses increased last year, the number of people who paid fell by 10%. (Meanwhile, the number of fare-paying riders is increasing on subways and trains).

Bus drivers’ safety has long been a sore spot for both the MTA and TWU Local 100. Unlike buses used in other cities like London, New York City buses lack a full barrier that protects drivers from being punched, stabbed or spat on.

That may soon change. Last September, the MTA launched a pilot program to create floor-to-ceiling partitions for drivers on select buses as part of an effort to reduce assaults on drivers.

Separately, TWU International President John Samuelsen said he reached an agreement with MTA officials last year that all buses purchased by the MTA in the future would include fully enclosed cockpits to protect drivers.

But Samuelsen said even if bus drivers are protected behind a wall of plexiglass, they still won’t enforce the fare.

“If they pay our bus drivers an extra $20 an hour, we’ll consider enforcing the fare,” Samuelsen said.

Curious Commuter

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Question from Brian in Manhattan

Many months ago, OMNY suspended its "Trip History" feature, citing security concerns. When will this feature be back online?

Answer

Most subway and bus riders who pay their fares with OMNY use a credit card or smartphone to tap to pay. But the MTA also sells physical OMNY cards, which can be reloaded online. Until last year, those online accounts would show riders’ trip histories. But that led to some security concerns: Specifically, if someone was trying to avoid an abusive partner, their whereabouts might be easily found if the partner had access to their online OMNY account. The MTA disabled the trip history feature, and officials said they currently have no plan to bring it back.

“We continue to explore ways to balance customer privacy and providing additional information,” MTA spokesperson Kayla Shults said.

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