Even though the MTA is losing around $8 million a year from bus fare evaders and is thus implementing drastic service cuts, people still aren't paying! Though most bus drivers are guilty of being too lenient on riders who conveniently "forgot" their MetroCards, riders on the Bx12 are guilty of abusing the experimental "honor code" ticket system. The Daily News reports, "Over the course of an hour at each stop, 40 fare-beaters boarded the bus at Fordham Plaza sans tickets; 22 did so near the Pelham Bay IRT subway stop, and 27 at the stop on Pelham Parkway at Williamsbridge Road."
The Bx12's "honor system" is unlike other buses in the city. Rather than a MetroCard, riders buy a ticket at a kiosk near the bus stop and are allowed to board the bus through any door. Failure to produce proof of ticket purchase to an enforcement official can result in a $100 fine, but the rules rarely seem enforced. Of the approximately 30,500 weekly riders, only 6,532 have been issued summonses since the system was implemented in 2008. On just one ride, the Daily News spotted at least eight fare beaters.
When asked why he didn't have a ticket, one rider said, "I don't have enough money to feed my kids, and I'm going to pay for a ticket on a bus when no one checks whether I've bought one or not? Why should I?" Another evader said, "They don't have enough cops to put out on the beat, and they're going to put them on the bus? Come on." He does make a valid point.
