Fare-beaters are feeling the burn after crackdown on local bus service begins

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I remember when I went to a high school reunion this one kid was 6'8" and was the basketball team captain... I can't imagine the amount of hell the cops give him for using a student card. I also found this article online:

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kids-wrong-side-tracks-jump-turnstiles-save-subway-fares-article-1.957876

 

Don't you just love the sassy attitude

LOL... Yeah she's right though... The still gets their money because they just jack up the fare on those of us who do pay... 

 

I have a friend who's about 6'6", and his dad is a professor at NYU, so he lives on campus housing. One day, he swiped his student Metrocard at West 4th St, and a cop stops him and asks why he's farebeating. My friend says he's a high school student, and then takes out his high school ID, to which the officer responds, "Show me your real ID."

 

Long story short, we were eventually able to convince the cop that this kid, in fact, did go to high school in the city, but I'd like to point out that looks can be deceiving

 

 

LOL...I'm 21 now but the way I look and dress with all the preppy Hollister clothing I wear, plus me having long hair and no facial hair (babyface), I can pretty much pass off as a high school senior (17-18, the youngest I ever got within the past year was 16). Funny how I can be perceived as a high school senior and I'm a college senior getting ready to graduate in two months.

 

But before I go off-topic like that, I agree...there are young adults who can pass off as high school students and it makes you think "wtf are they doing with a student MetroCard"?

Well I was always thought to be younger than I was... Had the young face too and until recently would still have to show ID when buying beer...   Now though the facial hair and chest hair grows in quickly so they just put in an age and let me go. lol  You're lucky though... I miss not having to shave daily and exfoliate... Much more time consuming.

 

Back to topic... This is exactly why folks called for those Student MetroCards to be banned because they're abused.  This chick thinks that because she's a student, she's exempt from EVER paying.  Seriously.... Hell when I worked for the for two summers, I had a pass which was valid Monday - Friday from about 07:00 until 19:00. After that I had to pay out pocket.  I suppose using her logic I should've said "Hey, I should ride 24/7 for free because I'm a summer intern at the (MTA)". 

[Acela Express]

Just to throw it out there: the B46 will never see a reduction in service. It's nearly impossible to cut runs without the domino effects taking place. They kept the same service levels for the Spring pick on the 46, and will increase to about 7-8 runs for the summer. No matter how bad the farebeating is on the 46, the massive ridership along that corridor will dictate service with or without the correct F5 tallies/ farebeating/ short-droping change. 

 

Trust me.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Just to throw it out there: the B46 will never see a reduction in service. It's nearly impossible to cut runs without the domino effects taking place. They kept the same service levels for the Spring pick on the 46, and will increase to about 7-8 runs for the summer. No matter how bad the farebeating is on the 46, the massive ridership along that corridor will dictate service with or without the correct F5 tallies/ farebeating/ short-droping change. 

 

Trust me.

I question that simply because there have been reductions on other heavily used routes that see high amounts of farebeating and it could be because of the farebeating lowering the actual ridership numbers... Never say never... These days I think anything is up for discussion.  With the amount of farebeating that happens on that line you have millions of people stealing fares annually which could certainly skew ridership numbers on that line.

[Acela Express]

I question that simply because there have been reductions on other heavily used routes that see high amounts of farebeating and it could be because of the farebeating lowering the actual ridership numbers... Never say never... These days I think anything is up for discussion.  With the amount of farebeating that happens on that line you have millions of people stealing fares annually which could certainly skew ridership numbers on that line.

It will NEVER happen. Utica Avenue the busiest bus corridor in the country. You cut service and you'll have some serious problems MTA wouldn't want to imagine how to resolve. Like I said, trust me. The headways after 12-1:30am is every 9-10 mins. That'll give an idea of how heavy this line is.

 

Their solution to farebeating will soon be the off-board payments in the years to come, with the current EAGLE team.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It will NEVER happen. Utica Avenue the busiest bus corridor in the country. You cut service and you'll have some serious problems MTA wouldn't want to imagine how to resolve. Like I said, trust me. The headways after 12-1:30am is every 9-10 mins. That'll give an idea of how heavy this line is.

 

Their solution to farebeating will soon be the off-board payments in the years to come, with the current EAGLE team.

Well of course they wouldn't but that's the whole point... Send a message that regardless of how much havoc it would cause we can and will cut service on lines with high farebeating, regardless of how many are actually paying, esp. with the amount of people stealing service on that line being in the millions annually.  Either way, they need to address the issue and soon because if they're going to argue that they're being more transparent then this is a prime example of where they aren't being transparent.

 

And for the record the M15 is the busiest.... The B46 is the second busiest.

 

Souce: http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffbus.htm#routes

 

They cut service on the Bx1/Bx2 and that's the six busiest line in the system and also has high farebeating, so nothing is impossible.  The cuts may not be "official" either... They just simply may not send out buses like they've done with other lines over the years.

[qjtransitmaster]

Well of course they wouldn't but that's the whole point... Send a message that regardless of how much havoc it would cause we can and will cut service on lines with high farebeating, regardless of how many are actually paying, esp. with the amount of people stealing service on that line being in the millions annually.  Either way, they need to address the issue and soon because if they're going to argue that they're being more transparent then this is a prime example of where they aren't being transparent.

 

And for the record the M15 is the busiest.... The B46 is the second busiest.

 

Souce: http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffbus.htm#routes

 

They cut service on the Bx1/Bx2 and that's the six busiest line in the system and also has high farebeating, so nothing is impossible.  The cuts may not be "official" either... They just simply may not send out buses like they've done with other lines over the years.

B46 is a special unique case man under normal circumstances and ridership you can cut service BUT B46 IS TOO HEAVY TO CUT WHAT MTA can do is bust out artics on that line to reduce # of buses on that line but that's it. B46 is too heavy to cut TOO MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FARE ON THE B46 vs amount of farebeaters!!!!!!!!!

 

Even with farebeaters B46 still runs at a slight profit!!!! Just imagine how profitable B46 would be without farebeaters!!! Good lord.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

B46 is a special unique case man under normal circumstances and ridership you can cut service BUT B46 IS TOO HEAVY TO CUT WHAT MTA can do is bust out artics on that line to reduce # of buses on that line but that's it. B46 is too heavy to cut TOO MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FARE ON THE B46 vs amount of farebeaters!!!!!!!!!

 

Even with farebeaters B46 still runs at a slight profit!!!! Just imagine how profitable B46 would be without farebeaters!!! Good lord.

lol... It's no more "unique" than any of the other heavily used routes like the M15... Just put some personnel on the buses and start enforcing the fare... 

[paulrivera]

Well of course they wouldn't but that's the whole point... Send a message that regardless of how much havoc it would cause we can and will cut service on lines with high farebeating, regardless of how many are actually paying, esp. with the amount of people stealing service on that line being in the millions annually.  Either way, they need to address the issue and soon because if they're going to argue that they're being more transparent then this is a prime example of where they aren't being transparent.

 

And for the record the M15 is the busiest.... The B46 is the second busiest.

 

Souce: http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffbus.htm#routes

 

They cut service on the Bx1/Bx2 and that's the six busiest line in the system and also has high farebeating, so nothing is impossible.  The cuts may not be "official" either... They just simply may not send out buses like they've done with other lines over the years.

Or something like what happened with my mom last week on the Bx7: When the bus got to 215th and there was no relief driver available, the bus was taken out of service and everyone had to fall back by one and take the next bus.

[qjtransitmaster]

Or something like what happened with my mom last week on the Bx7: When the bus got to 215th and there was no relief driver available, the bus was taken out of service and everyone had to fall back by one and take the next bus.

I'd just take the at that point.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Or something like what happened with my mom last week on the Bx7: When the bus got to 215th and there was no relief driver available, the bus was taken out of service and everyone had to fall back by one and take the next bus.

Yep... That's exactly what I thought about... No relief driver... Oh well... They'll have to wait for the next bus... B/O calls out sick... No filler.. Oh well wait for the next bus... That's what I mean when I say "unofficial cuts" and it does happen on some routes already.  Hell the not that long ago admitted that they were using this tactic too.

[Acela Express]

Well of course they wouldn't but that's the whole point... Send a message that regardless of how much havoc it would cause we can and will cut service on lines with high farebeating, regardless of how many are actually paying, esp. with the amount of people stealing service on that line being in the millions annually.  Either way, they need to address the issue and soon because if they're going to argue that they're being more transparent then this is a prime example of where they aren't being transparent.

 

And for the record the M15 is the busiest.... The B46 is the second busiest.

 

Souce: http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffbus.htm#routes

 

They cut service on the Bx1/Bx2 and that's the six busiest line in the system and also has high farebeating, so nothing is impossible.  The cuts may not be "official" either... They just simply may not send out buses like they've done with other lines over the years.

The B46 is actually #1. Those numbers only show the "pay-in-full' tallies from the farebox.

 

You do the math. lol

[paulrivera]

I'd just take the at that point.

 

There's no where she was going... And with the depot around the corner I'm surprised they didnt just throw any able body B/O from the depot to that bus.

 

Back to the Eagle teams, have there been any other crackdowns outside the SBS routes? I saw them on Bx12 SBS the other day and they actually checked everyone's receipts on the move and rode the bus for 3 whole stops as opposed to riding in their navy blue van and holding all the buses that come to their assigned stop.

 

I even saw them tailing a bus from end to end once and popping out when they saw someone they thought boarded the bus without paying (they popped out twice while I was on that day.)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The B46 is actually #1. Those numbers only show the "pay-in-full' tallies from the farebox.

 

You do the math. lol

LOL.... That's assuming that the M15 has less farebeaters than the B46 because the M15 has its farebeaters too...

 

There's no where she was going... And with the depot around the corner I'm surprised they didnt just throw any able body B/O from the depot to that bus.

Not surprised... They may have tried to radio in to see if anyone wanted to do the run but if not then that's what happens.  Some B/Os refuse to do any OT because they say that the rules are just too strict so why try to help out if can get pinched and potentially fired if something goes wrong?

 

Back to the Eagle teams, have there been any other crackdowns outside the SBS routes? I saw them on Bx12 SBS the other day and they actually checked everyone's receipts on the move and rode the bus for 3 whole stops as opposed to riding in their navy blue van and holding all the buses that come to their assigned stop.

 

I even saw them tailing a bus from end to end once and popping out when they saw someone they thought boarded the bus without paying (they popped out twice while I was on that day.)

Yeah, they've been blitzes outside of the SBS lines too...

[qjtransitmaster]

LOL.... That's assuming that the M15 has less farebeaters than the B46 because the M15 has its farebeaters too...

 

Not surprised... They may have tried to radio in to see if anyone wanted to do the run but if not then that's what happens.  Some B/Os refuse to do any OT because they say that the rules are just too strict so why try to help out if can get pinched and potentially fired if something goes wrong?

 

Yeah, they've been blitzes outside of the SBS lines too...

let them feel the heat

[Acela Express]

The TA has the actual numbers.

And every line has their set of farebeating, but it's mostly based on the demographics of the areas the line passes through. The M15 only has one area that's really prone to fare beating and that's pretty much in Harlem - the M15's northern end. However, unlike the M15, the B46 goes through Brooklyn's most roughest 'hoods on a large scale. North of Dekalb Ave, along Broadway, is entering the 'hipsters' atmosphere where fare evasion is you'll have maybe 1% of fare beating, if that..

LOL.... That's assuming that the M15 has less farebeaters than the B46 because the M15 has its farebeaters too...

[Grand Concourse]

The b46 south of flatlands isn't too bad either. Most of the farebeating I've seen were by kids.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The TA has the actual numbers.

And every line has their set of farebeating, but it's mostly based on the demographics of the areas the line passes through. The M15 only has one area that's really prone to fare beating and that's pretty much in Harlem - the M15's northern end. However, unlike the M15, the B46 goes through Brooklyn's most roughest 'hoods on a large scale. North of Dekalb Ave, along Broadway, is entering the 'hipsters' atmosphere where fare evasion is you'll have maybe 1% of fare beating, if that..

True... However, I'm curious to see how many farebeaters there are on the M15 with SBS in place.  When you have a system based on "honor" you'd be surprised how many people will beat the fare because they're only going a few stops or are simply too lazy to put the card in the machine and get a receipt and this includes the nicer areas as well.  This system has been in place with other transit systems (mainly outside of the US for years) and I remember when they did a sweep on the line I was on when I lived in Italy... This was in an upscale part of Florence right near the Downtown area... It was amazing how many people had their tickets for the bus but they hadn't stamped them which meant they were going to try to hold out on not paying and stamp their tickets upon seeing the fare inspector board the bus.  Unfortunately for them they were busted red handed.  I'm sure certain folks do the same thing here in the city... Try to get off when they see the Eagle Team or something similar...

[qjtransitmaster]

The b46 south of flatlands isn't too bad either. Most of the farebeating I've seen were by kids.

It is overblown.