NYC transit system lost $1 bn in 2024 due to fare evasion: Report

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs city's subways, buses and commuter rail lines, has called the problem an existential crisis

By Michelle Kaske

 

New York City’s transit system in 2024 lost approximately $1 billion of revenue from fare evasion, a vast amount that could help fix budget shortfalls or cover three rounds of fare increases, according to a fiscal watchdog.

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways, buses and commuter rail lines, has called the problem an existential crisis and is using different strategies to reduce users avoiding the fee.

 

New York City bus riders skipping the payment are the biggest challenge, accounting for $568 million of lost farebox revenue last year while subway riders failed to pay $350 million, according to the report released Thursday from the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit that focuses on state and city finances. Commuter rail lines lost $46 million and toll evasion on bridges and tunnels cost $51 million. 

 

“If you bring down evasion, you can help the MTA’s budget, help the credibility of the system and help pay that debt service that we’re going to start incurring as we invest in the capital program,” Andrew Rein, CBC’s president, said in a telephone interview, referring to the MTA’s multi-year $68.4 billion plan to modernize the aging transit network. “This money can go a long way to fixing the system.”

 

Since the Covid pandemic, more riders are seen slipping onto buses without paying, sneaking under turnstiles or jumping over them and scurrying through open emergency-exit gates to access the subway without paying. 

 

The MTA is fighting back and seems to be getting some results. The CBC projects MTA’s fare evasion cost will decrease to about $900 million this year as ridership increases and more people pay. The CBC estimates that 43% of bus riders failed to pay in the second quarter of 2025, according to the report. That’s down from nearly half of bus riders skipping the fare in the same period last year, according to MTA data. About 10% of subway riders evaded payment in the second quarter of this year, down from as much as 14% a year earlier.

 

“We agree with the report that fare evasion is an existential issue that not only harms the MTA financially but also violates the spirit of mutual respect and fair play that makes New York not just a great city but a great community,” Jai Patel, the MTA’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “In the last few years, we’ve made important progress.” 

 

Among targeted strategies, special teams of inspectors ride buses and work with police officers issuing summons, cutting evasion where they’ve been deployed by 36%, according to the CBC report. Fins and sleeves installed on many turnstiles prevent jumping or manipulating entry points, decreasing fare evasion by 60% at those locations and having unarmed guards standing by emergency-exit gates show a 36% reduction, according to the report.

 

But losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually because some people refuse to pay isn’t sustainable. The CBC recommends the MTA boost enforcement and also speed up the rollout of new modern fare gates with paneled doors and sensor technology that will prevent evasion.

 

“The MTA needs to drive fare evasion down much, much more,” Rein said.

 

The MTA needs the money it loses when riders fail to pay. The transit agency estimates a combined budget deficit of $1.1 billion over three years starting in 2027. About one quarter of the MTA’s subway cars are at or beyond their 40-year useful life. Last year’s lost revenue is equal to 180 new subway cars or 630 new buses, according to the report.

 

The MTA plans to increase fares and tolls in January and again in 2027 to boost revenue collections by 4%. The base transit fare is set to rise by 10-cents to $3, with no customer paying more than $36 for subway and local bus rides in a seven-day period.

 

The transit provider tends to raise fares and tolls every two years to help cover increasing labor expenses. The cost of fare evasion would cover three rounds of fare increases, according to the report.