Fare evasion: Top MTA official says agency is testing European' enforcement on moving buses | amNewYork

NYC Transit will test a European-style approach for bus fare enforcement by issuing summonses while vehicles are in motion. The pilot uses handheld devices that verify whether riders paid with OMNY when boarding and ticket riders found to have evaded fares. The effort targets rampant fare evasion after the MTA shifted from MetroCard to OMNY tap-and-pay. MetroCard sales ended at the end of 2025, but MetroCard remains accepted, and coin payments are still accepted on buses. EAGLE Teams currently check payments when buses are stationary and will also experiment with checks while buses are moving, including the time needed to take identification, enter information, and issue summonses, and the impact on customers not yet on the bus.

"NYC Transit President Demetrius Chrichlow updated reporters on the agency's pilot of handheld devices that check if bus riders paid with OMNY when hopping on board issuing tickets to those found to have evaded the fare. The rollout is an effort to better enforce against rampant fare evasion on city buses as the MTA has shifted fully from the MetroCard to the OMNY tap-and-pay system."

"The NYC Transit boss revealed that civilian fare agents with the MTA's Evasion And Graffiti Lawlessness Eradication (EAGLE) Teams will experiment with checking payments while the buses are moving, in addition to their current model of doing so when the vehicles are stationary. Part of the pilot will be doing it while the bus is in motion as well as what it takes to take people off, Chrichlow said."

"The goal of the trial period is to gather data on both methods, he said. Can we do it successfully while the bus is in motion? Crichlow said. How much time does it take with a person that's actually holding, taking the customer's identification, entering the information, and issuing the summons back? And how does that affect altogether the customers not yet on the bus?"

"However, while MetroCard sales ceased at the end of 2025, the payment method is still accepted, as are coin payments on buses. The question is based on the notion that in European countries that use a similar form of fare enforcement, which Lieber has said this model is based upon, agents approach riders while the buses are in motion."

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