88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
not the foggiest
Cuomo Declares a State of Emergency for NYC Subways: Update 7/26 - MTA submits 2 phase $9bil plan
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- Start date
not the foggiest
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Keep trying to tell these nasty ass customers about tossing trash in the tracks. That’s exactly how fires start. No one to blame but themselves.
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
They’re hiding the safety issues from the public. This is a purely political and not in the interests of the public or the workers. Terrible judgment
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Post the article please
Even just reading the headline, those numbers are modest.
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
1 in 5 Bus Riders in New York City Evades the Fare, Far Worse Than Elsewhere
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says nearly 22 percent of bus riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.CreditBenjamin Norman for The New York Times
Image
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says nearly 22 percent of bus riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.CreditCreditBenjamin Norman for The New York Times
By Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Edgar Sandoval
The Q65 bus came to a stop along a residential block in Queens and a construction worker stepped onboard. He walked past the farebox without paying. The driver pushed the F5 button on his dashboard.
At the next stop, an older woman with a cane climbed on and gave the driver a hearty wave. She, too, did not pay. Again the driver pressed F5.
Over two and a half hours, the driver pressed F5 — the button that records fare evaders — at least 50 times, and there was still a half-hour left on his morning route.
“It’s getting worse,” said the driver, Luis, who declined to provide his full name because he did not have permission to discuss his job. “How many? On my bus, hundreds a day. Hundreds with an ‘s.’”
double the rate of other cities across the world.
“We look at what other transit authorities are suffering, and this now really stands out as an outlier,” Mr. Byford said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees the subway and buses, says fare evasion is on the rise on the subway and buses, costing the system $225 million in lost revenue last year. But the problem is far worse on buses, where nearly 22 percent of riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.
An informal survey on several routes found that fare evasion was widespread and the reasons varied. Riders did not have exact change. They knew they would not get in trouble. And some simply felt no obligation to pay for a transit system plagued by unreliable service and constant fare increases.
On a recent morning, a man and two children boarded a BX19 bus in the Bronx through the back door without paying the $2.75 fare. Standing across the street, Charisma Howard said she sometimes skipped the fare, too, and did not feel bad about it.
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“There have been times when I’m fiddling with my purse or carrying my children, and I walk past the driver,” she said. “Do I feel guilty? No, I don’t feel guilty. The service is so bad on the buses, the train, everything. A lot of people feel the same way.”
On the Q65 bus in Queens, Jose Castillo, the construction worker, confessed that he could not afford the fare. “O.K., listen,” he told the driver. “I don’t have any money. I’m just trying to get to work.”
The bus driver shrugged. There was nothing he could really do. A confrontation with a rider could hold up the bus — or, worse, lead to violence.
Cities across the world are grappling with fare evasion, though it is far worse in New York. In Paris, the fare evasion rate for buses is 11 percent, while in Toronto it is 5 percent, according to the local transit agencies. The Paris transit system has 1,200 staff members dedicated to the problem and hands out about one million fines each year.
In London, where riders face fines as high as $1,300, the fare evasion rate on buses is only 1.5 percent. But in Washington, where about 14 percent of bus riders do not pay, the D.C. Council recently went in the other direction, approving lighter penalties because of concerns about targeting low-income riders.
disproportionally targeted black and Hispanic men.
Mr. Byford later clarified that he did want to see more arrests, but that the presence of officers would discourage riders from breaking the rules. “I’d love it if no one actually got caught,” Mr. Byford said.
The authority’s new chairman, Patrick J. Foye, said he also did not want to focus on arrests and wanted to find other solutions. He said the rollout of a new fare payment system using smartphones, which starts in May, would make it easier to check if someone paid the fare.
“I do not believe in criminalizing fare evasion,” Mr. Foye said at a recent State Senate hearing.
Riders who fail to pay the fare can receive a civil summons with a $100 fine. They can also be arrested on a “theft of services” charge, a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail, if they have a history of similar arrests or lack valid identification.
Transit advocates say the prevalence of fare evasion reflects how many New Yorkers struggle to pay for the basics, like subway and bus fares. After intense lobbying by advocates, Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced a discount program this year that provides half-price MetroCards for poor New Yorkers. But it included far fewer people than expected.
stabbed to death by a rider who did not pay his fare — the first slaying of a city bus driver in more than 27 years. In response, the authority offered classes to drivers on defusing tense situations and added plastic partitions between drivers and passengers.
When a passenger refuses to pay, transit officials say the bus driver should politely say the price. If that does not work, bus drivers are told to press the F5 button and continue boarding other passengers.
Luis, the Queens bus driver, said safety was always on his mind. “What if I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pay.’ You don’t know if he’s armed with a knife or gun. I have this,” he said, pointing to his partition. “But this isn’t going to stop a bullet or someone from reaching over.”
Fare evasion has been far less of a problem on the city’s Select Bus Service routes — faster buses that account for 13 percent of bus ridership, where customers pay before boarding. The fare evasion rate on those buses is only 2.5 percent, a figure that is low partly because M.T.A. employees, known as “eagle teams,” patrol buses to ticket riders who do not pay. The agency is testing using the teams on regular buses.
Some transit advocates question the M.T.A. statistics and say officials are inflating the problem. The figures are based on observations along 140 of the 317 city bus routes that are extrapolated for the entire system. The agency does not even use the tally from bus drivers pressing the F5 button — that figure is used only to identify “hot spots” for fare evasion.
Back on the Q65 bus in Queens, Marty Ross admitted that he once skipped the fare because he forgot his MetroCard and did not have enough change.
“It happens to everyone,” said Mr. Ross, 68, of the Bronx. “Not everyone can pay every day.”
But another rider, Kevin Molina, a 23-year-old landscaper, said fare beaters hurt paying riders.
“I’ve never done it,” he said. “I pay my fair share. Those who don’t pay make the prices go up for the rest of us.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says nearly 22 percent of bus riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.CreditBenjamin Norman for The New York Times
Image
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says nearly 22 percent of bus riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.CreditCreditBenjamin Norman for The New York Times
By Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Edgar Sandoval
- April 13, 2019
The Q65 bus came to a stop along a residential block in Queens and a construction worker stepped onboard. He walked past the farebox without paying. The driver pushed the F5 button on his dashboard.
At the next stop, an older woman with a cane climbed on and gave the driver a hearty wave. She, too, did not pay. Again the driver pressed F5.
Over two and a half hours, the driver pressed F5 — the button that records fare evaders — at least 50 times, and there was still a half-hour left on his morning route.
“It’s getting worse,” said the driver, Luis, who declined to provide his full name because he did not have permission to discuss his job. “How many? On my bus, hundreds a day. Hundreds with an ‘s.’”
double the rate of other cities across the world.
“We look at what other transit authorities are suffering, and this now really stands out as an outlier,” Mr. Byford said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees the subway and buses, says fare evasion is on the rise on the subway and buses, costing the system $225 million in lost revenue last year. But the problem is far worse on buses, where nearly 22 percent of riders do not pay, compared with 3.4 percent of subway riders.
An informal survey on several routes found that fare evasion was widespread and the reasons varied. Riders did not have exact change. They knew they would not get in trouble. And some simply felt no obligation to pay for a transit system plagued by unreliable service and constant fare increases.
On a recent morning, a man and two children boarded a BX19 bus in the Bronx through the back door without paying the $2.75 fare. Standing across the street, Charisma Howard said she sometimes skipped the fare, too, and did not feel bad about it.
I Had to Do It Without Telling My Beloved
Cursive Seemed to Go the Way of Quills and Parchment. Now It’s Coming Back.
Is the Hudson Valley Turning Into the Hamptons?
“There have been times when I’m fiddling with my purse or carrying my children, and I walk past the driver,” she said. “Do I feel guilty? No, I don’t feel guilty. The service is so bad on the buses, the train, everything. A lot of people feel the same way.”
On the Q65 bus in Queens, Jose Castillo, the construction worker, confessed that he could not afford the fare. “O.K., listen,” he told the driver. “I don’t have any money. I’m just trying to get to work.”
The bus driver shrugged. There was nothing he could really do. A confrontation with a rider could hold up the bus — or, worse, lead to violence.
Cities across the world are grappling with fare evasion, though it is far worse in New York. In Paris, the fare evasion rate for buses is 11 percent, while in Toronto it is 5 percent, according to the local transit agencies. The Paris transit system has 1,200 staff members dedicated to the problem and hands out about one million fines each year.
In London, where riders face fines as high as $1,300, the fare evasion rate on buses is only 1.5 percent. But in Washington, where about 14 percent of bus riders do not pay, the D.C. Council recently went in the other direction, approving lighter penalties because of concerns about targeting low-income riders.
disproportionally targeted black and Hispanic men.
Mr. Byford later clarified that he did want to see more arrests, but that the presence of officers would discourage riders from breaking the rules. “I’d love it if no one actually got caught,” Mr. Byford said.
The authority’s new chairman, Patrick J. Foye, said he also did not want to focus on arrests and wanted to find other solutions. He said the rollout of a new fare payment system using smartphones, which starts in May, would make it easier to check if someone paid the fare.
“I do not believe in criminalizing fare evasion,” Mr. Foye said at a recent State Senate hearing.
Riders who fail to pay the fare can receive a civil summons with a $100 fine. They can also be arrested on a “theft of services” charge, a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail, if they have a history of similar arrests or lack valid identification.
Transit advocates say the prevalence of fare evasion reflects how many New Yorkers struggle to pay for the basics, like subway and bus fares. After intense lobbying by advocates, Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced a discount program this year that provides half-price MetroCards for poor New Yorkers. But it included far fewer people than expected.
stabbed to death by a rider who did not pay his fare — the first slaying of a city bus driver in more than 27 years. In response, the authority offered classes to drivers on defusing tense situations and added plastic partitions between drivers and passengers.
When a passenger refuses to pay, transit officials say the bus driver should politely say the price. If that does not work, bus drivers are told to press the F5 button and continue boarding other passengers.
Luis, the Queens bus driver, said safety was always on his mind. “What if I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pay.’ You don’t know if he’s armed with a knife or gun. I have this,” he said, pointing to his partition. “But this isn’t going to stop a bullet or someone from reaching over.”
Fare evasion has been far less of a problem on the city’s Select Bus Service routes — faster buses that account for 13 percent of bus ridership, where customers pay before boarding. The fare evasion rate on those buses is only 2.5 percent, a figure that is low partly because M.T.A. employees, known as “eagle teams,” patrol buses to ticket riders who do not pay. The agency is testing using the teams on regular buses.
Some transit advocates question the M.T.A. statistics and say officials are inflating the problem. The figures are based on observations along 140 of the 317 city bus routes that are extrapolated for the entire system. The agency does not even use the tally from bus drivers pressing the F5 button — that figure is used only to identify “hot spots” for fare evasion.
Back on the Q65 bus in Queens, Marty Ross admitted that he once skipped the fare because he forgot his MetroCard and did not have enough change.
“It happens to everyone,” said Mr. Ross, 68, of the Bronx. “Not everyone can pay every day.”
But another rider, Kevin Molina, a 23-year-old landscaper, said fare beaters hurt paying riders.
“I’ve never done it,” he said. “I pay my fair share. Those who don’t pay make the prices go up for the rest of us.”
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
@radio rahiem posted above
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
The Hill
BREAKING: President Trump has offered condolences to French President Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of the fire that ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and is offering assistance in rehabilitation efforts.
About this website
THEHILL.COM
White House offers to assist France in Notre Dame rehabilitation
"The United States stands with French citizens, the city of Paris, and the millions of visitors from around the world who have sought solace in that iconic structure," Sanders said.
Guess our priorities are straight
BREAKING: President Trump has offered condolences to French President Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of the fire that ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and is offering assistance in rehabilitation efforts.
About this website
THEHILL.COM
White House offers to assist France in Notre Dame rehabilitation
"The United States stands with French citizens, the city of Paris, and the millions of visitors from around the world who have sought solace in that iconic structure," Sanders said.
Guess our priorities are straight