Photo: laverrueA report by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority seems to prove that hopping a subway turnstile is worth the risk of getting caught and fined. The MTA estimates that riders entered the subway without paying 18.5 million times in 2009 (an average of 50,684 a day) while the police issued just 120,000 summonses, or 1 for every 154 jumps.
The report figures that a regular turnstile jumper has a chance of getting caught only once every 6 to 13 weeks. At $100 per fine, this works out to be cheaper than a $27 weekly unlimited Metrocard that would cost $162 over six weeks. So the fare-skipper who gets nabbed only once in that period still comes out ahead by $62. And that was in 2009. While the price for a weekly pass has since increased to $29, the cost of the fine has not, so in 2011 it pays even more to hop the turnstile.
From the Daily News:
“This basic street economics might explain observed evasion behaviors,” the authors of the report wrote, arguing stiffer penalties might cut down on scofflaws. “Higher fines or arrests may have better deterrent effects.”
Now that the MTA knows the frequency of fare jumpers, and how often they get caught, a minimum price of $174 per fine seems to make sense. Of course, there are other costs to consider: the social stigma of not only being seen jumping the turnstile, but also of getting caught and written up by the cops. Not something you want to have happen in front of your boss. Though those costs certainly have different weights for different people.
And let’s not forget the lost revenue for the city: the MTA estimates it lost $31 million due to fare evasion last year.
Arrests are up this year by about 5% from the same time last year. But besides employing more transit cops to keep a watchful eye on the turnstiles, and raising the price of the fine, what other creative ways might the MTA crack down on this?
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Why not raise the fine and offer a reward to citizens who report jumpers? A report that leads to a $174 fine deserves a couple of free subway rides and saves the city money by helping to collect toll fees from jumpers and by using citizens as MTA officers which means fewer wages and benefits.
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This is a good idea and we can probably expand upon it a bit more:
What if we incentivized paying riders by making it a bounty system? For example, say when you report someone that is a repeat offender you are credited an amount of money, which is dependent on the amount of times they have been caught: 1-2 time offenders have a $20 dollar bounty, 3-4 have a $35 bounty, and there is a ceiling of $50 for 5+ offenders.
This would make it more appealing to people who would typically let something like this slide. On top of this the offenders will be fined exponentially, depending on the amount of times they are caught.
It would cost money to put something like this in place, but in the long run it would minimize the amount that is currently being lost. Feel free to elaborate on this if you have any ideas/thoughts/concerns.
When exiting the station, if someone is having trouble using their card, I’ll just swipe them through. On an unlimited card, it doesn’t cost you a thing.
I guess I’m part of the problem.
Also, this post doesn’t take into account the physical cost of jumping. What about the physical exertion and risk of injury?
I heard rumors of a website or list-serv that allowed people to coordinate such MetroCard sharing. Apparently, you could get matched up with people who tended to exit stations at the times you entered them and vice versa so that cards could be served and, somewhere, somehow, someone saved money. Not sure if it was real or, if so, how effective it was. But it was a creative idea. And I’ve certainly swiped people in as well!
Denial of service for repeat offenders? Beating the system by netting $60 looks smart, being escorted off the train does not.
Why use the weekly pass as ameasuring tool? A monthly pass is $100.00, which changes the math.
A single ride is $2.25. Most jumpers would fall under this.
I understand the issue and enjoyed many of the comments, but if you are going to mathematize a problem, use the correct measuring tool.
The cost/benefit analysis of jumpers may be a lot different than your analysis shows.
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A SingleRide ticket is technically $2.50, and a monthly pass $104.
The MTA rapes us all every time there’s a fare hike because there’s absolutely nothing we New Yorkers can do about it. And they know it. They rationalize the hikes by telling the public how mass transportation is still the most economical means of getting around and that compared to years past we’re actually saving by purchasing passes! Please stop insulting my intelligence MTA. What can I do about it anyway right? It’s not like I can take another train or bus from another company, can I? And the quality of service? Let’s even go there…
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I would prefer if the fares were hiked even more, to keep out the riff raff. Presuming of course, fare-jumping would be reasonably policed.
With some analysis, as the write up shows, people can conclude that paying is not worth the price to those with lower social consciousness. Therefore, why not increase the cost of penalty depending on the amount of times you get caught? This way repeat offenders would bare more of the cost and it would deter them from doing it on a consistent basis.
I had a similar experience with parking tickets in Manhattan when I lived there (going back about 6 years). I used to park my car on the street overnight after commuting to work, and I would usually get home around 5:30ish. On-street parking was legal after 6PM. So I would chance it for roughly 30 minutes a day. I estimated (based on historical data) that I received roughly 12 parking tickets per year and was able to successfully dispute about half of those. So, 6 parking tickets per year costing, usually, $105 each – $630 a year. There were a few occassions I had to park in a garage overnight ($30 a night) due to vacation days, etc – I estimate this at 10 times per year, generously. So my parking expenses were about $930 per year. A parking garage would cost me $350 a month in my neighborhood at that time. I chose to accept (and pay on time) the parking tickets that came my way.
I stopped this behavior towards the end of my time in the city when my car was towed once. I hadn’t realized that they would resort to towing in that location – it wasn’t a street cleaning area or anything like that. From then on I stayed at work a bit later and made sure I stayed in the car until 6PM – the hassle of getting the car out of impound coupled with the huge expense (maybe $300-400, can’t remember) was enough incentive for me!
First off, you create a false dilemma. You could easily wait until after 6, risk no ticket, and not have to pay for a garage.
Secondly, you took a spot that someone else might have been willing to pay for.
Taller turnstiles?