Why MTA bus drivers don’t enforce the fare

Plus: Where's my OMNY 'Trip History?' [View this email in a browser.]( [On The Way - from WNYC and Gothamist]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( Inside today's newsletter: - Will OMNY bring back its "Trip History" feature? - Commuters slam Port Authority excuses for closing George Washington Bridge bike path overnight - 55 years ago, a promise to bring world-class service to the LIRR Why the MTA’s bus drivers don’t enforce the fare By [Ramsey Khalifeh]( 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 that changed in 2008, when Brooklyn bus driver Edwin Thomas was [stabbed to death]( after telling a passenger he needed to pay to ride. 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 they’re 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). [a bus driver behind their door] Noam Galai/Getty Images [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 Have a question for us? [Use this form]( to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter! “Many months ago, OMNY suspended its "Trip History" feature, citing security concerns. When will this feature be back online? ” - Brian in Manhattan What [Clayton Guse]( says: 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,” said MTA spokesperson Kayla Shults. Curious Commuter questions are exclusive for On The Way newsletter subscribers. Did a friend forward this to you? [Sign up for free here]( to start asking your questions. What New York is reading this week - More than 100 people have signed a petition asking the Port Authority to stop closing the George Washington Bridge’s bike path overnight, arguing that workers with early shifts need a way to bike into the city. [Read more](. - NYU researchers have determined that toxic subway air disproportionately harms low-income commuters, especially Black and Hispanic riders, due to longer commutes and more station transfers. [Read more](. - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated this week that he thought Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause of congestion pricing was a “reasonable thing to do at this moment.” [Read more](. - Amtrak’s 114-year-old East River tunnels are slated to undergo years of repairs starting this fall. Experts warn the work could spell big trouble for commuters. [Read more](. - The MTA said southbound B and Q trains will continue to skip Brooklyn’s Church Avenue station through the fall due to construction on accessibility upgrades. [Read more](. - Complaints to the MTA about unlicensed vending nearly doubled in the first five months of this year when compared to the same time last year, according to internal agency data obtained by Gothamist. [Read more](. - Contractors are still being hired to finish construction at Grand Central Madison terminal, 18 months after it first opened for Long Island Rail Road commuters. [Read more](. This week in NYC transit history [LIRR riders in 1969] Jim Peppler/Newsday RM via Getty Images Governor promises "finest service in the country" for LIRR riders The United States successfully sent three astronauts on a 250,000-mile journey to the moon in the summer of 1969. But at the same time, the Long Island Rail Road was anything but successful in its daily effort to move 250,000 daily riders down just a few miles of track. The MTA struggled to deploy enough working train cars to run full service on the railroad, and labor strife between the agency’s leaders and the union representing its car mechanics worsened the problem. But on Aug. 6 that year, then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller promised he was on the case and declared: “Within two months, the Long Island Rail Road service is going to be the finest service in the country.” Service would indeed improve in the following months, and it’s far better now than it was 55 years ago. But is the LIRR the finest service in the country? 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