MTA Looks Beyond Policing as Fare Evasion Crisis Approaches $1 Billion in Losses

PBS Metrofocus, November 6, 2023 

MTA Looks Beyond Policing as Fare Evasion Crisis Approaches $1 Billion in Losses 

New York is facing a fare and toll evasion crisis with revenue losses nearly topping $700 million in 2022. That’s according to a new blue-ribbon panel appointed to study the evasion threat, which found the problem has spiked sharply since the pandemic, threatening the financial stability of the transit system and tearing at the social fabric of New York. The 16-member group also came up with recommendations to address evasion without aggressive policing, which critics say unfairly targets the city’s most vulnerable. Joining us tonight to discuss their work and possible solutions to the crisis are the co-chairs of the Panel on MTA Fare and Toll Evasion: Rose Pierre-Louis, who also serves as executive director of the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, and Roger Maldonado, an attorney and former president of the New York City Bar Association.