Fare and toll evasion occurs when riders or drivers bypass payment systems on New York’s public transit and toll facilities, resulting in significant annual revenue losses for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other regional agencies. This page covers CBC’s work on enforcement strategies, the fiscal impact of uncollected revenue, the effectiveness of fare-free programs, legislative efforts to penalize evasion, and the deployment of new technology to secure transit infrastructure.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion, which is on track to cost more than $900 million this year, by assessing the cost-effectiveness of enforcement efforts.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by refining the multifaceted approach to reducing fare evasion.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by accelerating the rollout of new faregates and a proof-of-payment system.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by working with the District Attorneys to actively pursue and try serial fare evasion cases.
The MTA should continue to rein in expenses and collect the revenue it is due to address losses from fare and toll evasion.
The MTA should continue its efforts to reduce fare evasion, as it has made significant progress in the past year.
Key Data
In May 2026, the CBC reported that fully 49% of bus riders currently evade the fare, shifting the cost of running the bus system from riders to taxpayers.
An April 2026 analysis revealed that toll collecting agencies lost over $1.2 billion in the last 5 years due to evasion, with the MTA alone losing over $900 million, including $300 million in 2025.
As of April 2026, the City-State Ghost Plate Task Force had issued more than 75,000 summonses, towed more than 7,000 vehicles, and made more than 1,700 arrests, resulting in a decrease of more than 20% in unbillable toll transactions at MTA facilities.
In September 2025, the CBC reported that the MTA's $918 million loss to subway and bus fare evasion in 2024 was triple the $305 million lost in 2019 prior to the pandemic.
A September 2025 report highlighted the massive scale of the issue, noting that every minute during 2024, 330 subway fares and 710 bus fares were evaded.
Fare-free bus programs are unlikely to improve transit affordability or speed, and instead risk increasing subway fare evasion and weakening MTA finances. Expanding the existing Fair Fares NYC program to 250 percent of the federal poverty level is a more targeted, cost-effective approach that better serves low-income residents.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The City should raise the Fair Fares NYC eligibility threshold to 250 percent of the FPL to better target transit affordability.
The City should improve low uptake and utilization of Fair Fares NYC through expanded education, outreach, and enrollment strategies.
The City should leverage proven strategies, such as signal priority and physically separated busways, to make the City's streets more conducive to faster bus traffic.
The City should work with the MTA to further improve bus speeds as an alternative to fare-free bus programs.
Key Data
49%
— Percentage of bus riders who currently evade the fare.
$350 million
— Estimated amount the MTA lost to subway fare evasion in 2024.
10%
— Increase in fare evasion at subway stations and bus routes near, but not part of, the fare-free pilot program.
New York's public authorities have lost over $1.2 billion in the last five years due to toll evasion, prompting a push for legislation that would classify intentional toll avoidance as a "theft of service" misdemeanor. The proposed bill would also grant agencies stronger enforcement tools, such as the ability to seize vehicles from repeat offenders and place liens on personal property for unpaid tolls.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
Permit law enforcement officers to confiscate fraudulent license plates and devices that obscure license plates when they issue a summons for an obscured or fraudulent plate.
Close a loophole that allows drivers with significant unpaid toll balances to re-register their vehicles under the name of a friend or family member and avoid toll payment.
Authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to report repeat toll evaders to their insurers.
Allow the MTA to place liens on vehicles and other personal property owned by individuals that do not pay their tolls.
Authorize the MTA, PANYNJ, NYSTA, and NYSBA to seize vehicles whose owners let tolls go unpaid for 90 or more days at least 3 times within a 5-year period.
Classify the act of driving on a tolled facility with the intent to avoid paying tolls as a "theft of service" misdemeanor.
Key Data
$1.2 billion
— Total amount lost by collecting agencies including the MTA, PANYNJ, NYSTA, and NYSBA in the last 5 years due to toll evasion.
$900 million
— Total amount lost by the MTA due to toll evasion.
$300 million
— Amount lost by the MTA in 2025 alone due to toll evasion.
75,000
— Number of summonses issued by the City-State Ghost Plate Task Force.
7,000
— Number of vehicles towed by the City-State Ghost Plate Task Force.
1,700
— Number of arrests made by the City-State Ghost Plate Task Force.
Persistent fare evasion remains a significant financial drain on the transit system, costing an estimated $900 million in 2025 and threatening long-term fiscal stability. To mitigate this risk, the transit authority must continue its multifaceted enforcement strategy, including the installation of new faregates and collaboration with law enforcement to prosecute serial offenders.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion, which is on track to cost more than $900 million this year, by assessing the cost-effectiveness of enforcement efforts.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by refining the multifaceted approach to reducing fare evasion.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by accelerating the rollout of new faregates and a proof-of-payment system.
The MTA should continue to reduce fare evasion by working with the District Attorneys to actively pursue and try serial fare evasion cases.
Key Data
$900 million
— Estimated cost of fare evasion in 2025.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority lost approximately $1 billion to fare and toll evasion last year and is projected to lose another $900 million this year. Continued efforts to reduce these losses are essential to support the operating budget and improve public confidence in the transit system.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should continue to rein in expenses and collect the revenue it is due to address losses from fare and toll evasion.
The MTA should continue its efforts to reduce fare evasion, as it has made significant progress in the past year.
Key Data
$1 billion
— Estimated amount the MTA lost to fare and toll evasion last year.
$900 million
— Estimated amount the MTA is on track to lose to fare and toll evasion this year.
Fare and toll evasion cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approximately $1 billion in 2024, creating a significant financial burden that exacerbates the system's $800 million structural operating budget gap. To address these losses, the transit authority should continue its multi-faceted enforcement and environmental strategies while improving data transparency and evaluating the effectiveness of programs like Fair Fares NYC.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should refine and continue a multi-faceted approach to reducing fare and toll evasion, including improving enforcement, educating riders, and better securing the transit system environment.
The MTA should accelerate the rollout of new faregates funded in the 2025 to 2029 Capital Plan.
The MTA should accelerate the rollout of proof-of-payment to allow EAGLE Team inspectors to enforce fare payment on local and express buses without having to directly witness fare evasion.
The MTA should publish comprehensive and regular data on fare and toll evasion, including projected rates and estimates of lost revenue.
The MTA should work with the City to assess the cost-effectiveness of deploying police officers to enforce fare payment.
The MTA should work with the City to assess the effectiveness of the Fair Fares Program and consider expansion to address low enrollment.
Key Data
$1 billion
— Estimated cost of MTA fare and toll evasion in 2024.
$800 million
— The MTA's structural operating budget gap that reducing evasion is essential to help close.
330
— Number of subway fares evaded every minute during 2024.
710
— Number of bus fares evaded every minute during 2024.
60 percent
— Decrease in the number of individuals who jump the turnstile at locations where fins and sleeves have been used.
36 percent
— Decrease in fare evasion at locations where unarmed gate guards have been utilized.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority faces a funding gap exceeding $30 billion, requiring a combination of increased state and city contributions, higher fares and tolls, labor savings, and a concerted effort to address fare evasion. Closing this deficit is essential to prevent system deterioration and ensure the region's economic health.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The State and MTA should turn the tide on fare evasion.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority requires a comprehensive funding strategy to address its $33.4 billion capital plan gap, which includes increasing fares, tolls, and vehicle registration fees. To further bolster revenue, the state should provide law enforcement and transit officials with the necessary tools to combat fare evasion, a measure projected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The State should include provisions to catalyze action and provide tools to the District Attorneys, police, and the MTA to dramatically turn the tide on fare evasion, which could increase revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars.
$35 billion is how much of the MTA's 5-year capital plan remains unfunded. Investing in the MTA’s crumbling infrastructure is one of the most important decisions Albany will make this year; New York's economy, quality of life, and the region's competitiveness depend on it. At a recent CBC event, MTA…
The MTA's proposed $69 billion capital plan faces a significant funding gap, exacerbated by the pause on congestion pricing and the need to prioritize state-of-good-repair projects over service expansions. To ensure financial stability and reliable service, state leaders must secure sustainable funding, focus on essential infrastructure, and empower the transit authority to improve operational efficiency and curb fare evasion.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should reduce fare evasion and increase efficiency to stabilize its operating budget and finance debt.
State leaders should support a tightly focused and smartly financed MTA capital plan and empower the MTA to reduce fare evasion and increase efficiency.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority must address significant budget challenges by improving operational efficiency and curbing revenue losses. Specifically, the agency needs to prioritize cost-saving measures, including efforts to reduce fare and toll evasion, which currently costs the system over $700 million annually.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA needs to deliver capital projects more efficiently at the lowest cost, reduce fare and toll evasion, and increase operating efficiency to stabilize its budget and provide resources for capital investment.
The MTA should increase productivity and reduce fare evasion to provide at least $1.5 billion in needed operating budget savings.
Key Data
$700 million
— The amount that fare evasion well exceeds annually.
$1.5 billion
— The amount of needed operating budget savings the MTA should provide by increasing productivity and reducing fare evasion.
$1.5 trillion is the MTA’s total asset value—the trains, buses, yards, and stations...all the infrastructure moving New Yorkers round the clock. At a recent CBC event, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber and President of Construction and Development Jamie Torres-Springer discussed congestion pricing, fare evasion, congestion pricing, state of good…
Fare evasion on New York City buses and subways continues to drain the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's resources, reducing annual fare and toll revenue by more than $700 million. To mitigate these financial risks, the agency must successfully execute its ongoing efforts to curb evasion, which is projected to cause up to $89 million in bus revenue shortfalls by 2027.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA must ensure the success of its ongoing efforts to target fare evasion, as this is critical to mitigating revenue risks.
The MTA must prioritize reducing subway fare evasion to avoid additional unquantified revenue shortfalls.
The MTA should continue to target fare evasion on buses to prevent the projected revenue shortfalls of up to $89 million by 2027.
Key Data
$700 million
— Annual reduction in fare and toll revenue caused by fare evasion.
$20 million
— Estimated risk from bus fare evasion in 2023.
$80 million
— Estimated risk from bus fare evasion in 2024.
$83 million
— Estimated risk from bus fare evasion in 2025.
$86 million
— Estimated risk from bus fare evasion in 2026.
$89 million
— Estimated risk from bus fare evasion in 2027.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority faces significant fiscal risks, including a $500 million annual revenue shortfall caused by a recent spike in fare evasion. While state stabilization plans have addressed budget gaps through 2029, the transit system remains vulnerable to potential revenue losses if ridership recovery is slower than expected or if fare evasion continues at high rates.
Key Data
$500 million
— Annual fare revenue shortfall resulting from the recent spike in fare evasion.
The MTA's operating budget faces a long-term structural gap, exacerbated by factors like increased fare and toll evasion, which cost the agency $690 million in 2022. To ensure financial stability, the agency must implement operational reforms, such as proof of payment systems on commuter rail, to reduce costs and align spending with recurring revenues.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should reduce the cost of commuter rail services by verifying fare payment at turnstiles or with proof of payment systems.
The MTA should implement proof of payment systems on commuter rail, which would ultimately save nearly $300 million per year.
Key Data
$690 million
— Cost of fare and toll evasion to the MTA in 2022.
$250 million
— Annual cost of fare and toll evasion to the MTA prior to the pandemic.
$300 million
— Annual savings from implementing proof of payment systems on commuter rail.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority faces significant budget challenges that require more than just revenue increases, including a critical need to address rising fare evasion. Because the cost of increased fare evasion is equivalent to two rounds of fare and toll hikes, the agency must prioritize enforcement and accountability to ensure long-term fiscal stability.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should be supported in reducing fare evasion.
The proposed "toll payer protection act" would hinder the collection of necessary toll revenue by capping penalties and mandating amnesty programs, potentially forcing the diversion of general funds to cover infrastructure maintenance. Instead of limiting enforcement, the state should focus on improving the collection of user fees to ensure critical transportation assets remain in good repair.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The Governor should veto A3801A/S3587C, the "toll payer protection act," which would limit the ability of State authorities to collect tolls by mail and impose penalties for non-payment.
The State should work to improve collection of user fees on toll roads and bridges in order to support New York’s critically needed infrastructure.
The State should refrain from granting amnesty for non-payment of legitimate tolls and charges, as it sets a bad precedent and may increase the delinquency rate.
Key Data
$2 Billion
— Amount of general State revenue diverted to backfill the Thruway budget and fund capital projects when toll rates were frozen from 2016 to 2020.
95%
— Percentage of trips that automatically pay tolls via E-ZPass on MTA Bridge and Tunnel crossings.
88%
— Percentage of trips that automatically pay tolls via E-ZPass on PANYNJ crossings.
83%
— Percentage of trips that automatically pay tolls via E-ZPass on the NYS Thruway.
$25
— Penalty amount for non-payment of tolls after 60 days as proposed by the bill.
$5
— Penalty amount for non-payment of tolls after 30 days as proposed by the bill.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's financial plan relies on an uncertain $200 million revenue target from reducing fare evasion to help close its projected budget gaps. This reliance on potentially unachievable targets, alongside other fiscal risks, threatens the agency's financial stability and could necessitate future service cuts or fare increases.
Key Data
$200 million
— Expected revenue generation from <b>reducing fare evasion</b>, though the prospects for achieving this target remain uncertain.
The MTA plans to hire 581 new police officers, which will cost $260 million over the 2020-2023 financial plan and increase the projected operating deficit from $740 million to $1 billion. While the Manhattan DA has provided $40 million to help reduce fare evasion, this one-time funding covers only a fraction of the total cost, necessitating a clear plan to fund these hires without further straining the transit system's budget.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA Board must identify how it will cover the cost of hiring 581 new officers without increasing the MTA’s operating deficit.
The MTA should work with the NYPD and its own officers to establish clear goals and expectations to maximize the effectiveness of existing policing before spending scarce transit operating dollars.
Key Data
$56.1 million
— The cost of increasing the MTA police force with 500 new officers and 81 supervisors in the first year.
$119.9 million
— The cost of increasing the MTA police force with 500 new officers and 81 supervisors in the tenth year.
$260 million
— The cost of the new officers over the 2020-2023 financial plan.
$40 million
— The amount the Manhattan DA announced it would provide over four years to reduce fare evasion.
$740 million
— The MTA's projected operating budget deficit before the new officer costs are added.
$1 billion
— The MTA's projected operating budget deficit after the new officer costs are added.
New York's current transportation funding relies on fuel taxes that are increasingly decoupled from road use, necessitating a shift toward a vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) fee to ensure sustainable revenue. Implementing this system requires addressing challenges like evasion, privacy concerns, and the need for a phased, technologically flexible rollout that can integrate with existing infrastructure.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
New York should require commercial fleets to transition to a VMT fee to mitigate the ease with which these heavier vehicles evade national fuel taxes.
The state should reform the existing truck mileage tax by substituting it with a simpler VMT fee and increasing enforcement as an early stage of implementation.
Administrators should implement on-road enforcement through existing traffic stops or fixed and mobile enforcement stations to identify signs of tampering and ensure motorists are metering miles properly.
The state should work with the DMV and partner with other states to suspend driver licenses in cases of chronic delinquency to deter nonpayment.
New York should establish a default payment or fine system for when an onboard unit shows signs of tampering to discourage evasion.
Key Data
5 percent to 10 percent
— The typical 'leakage rate' or share of total transactions where tolls are unpaid that tolling authorities generally assume.
95 percent
— The E-ZPass market share for weekday transactions on Triborough Bridge and Tunnel (TBTA) entities as of May 2018.
25 percent
— The reduction in OBU costs from vendors prepared to supply motorists in the Netherlands over two years, indicating declining technology costs.
123 billion miles
— The estimated distance motorists traveled in New York State in 2016.
$1 billion
— The amount that could be yielded annually by an average per-mile fee of 1 cent.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority could generate approximately $93 million annually by capping the number of rides allowed on 7-day and 30-day unlimited MetroCards, a strategy that would address revenue needs while potentially curbing abuses like pass sharing. This approach offers a more targeted alternative to broad fare increases, impacting primarily high-volume users while still providing significant discounts.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should implement caps on the number of rides permitted on 7-day and 30-day passes to generate revenue and address abuses such as selling swipes and sharing passes among family members or employees.
The MTA should utilize more comprehensive data regarding how high-volume passholders use the system to guide the setting of specific caps to mitigate fare evasion.
Key Data
$93 million
— Estimated annual revenue generated by capping 7-day and 30-day unlimited MetroCard passes.
$67 million
— Monthly foregone revenue attributed to 'free' rides on unlimited passes.
$807 million
— Annual foregone revenue attributed to 'free' rides on unlimited passes.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is urged to adopt a multi-year strategy for fare and toll adjustments, including larger toll increases and annual revenue growth targets exceeding 7.5 percent in 2013 and 15 percent in 2015. Additionally, the transit system should implement caps on unlimited passes to curb fraudulent abuse, while also refining senior discount policies and exploring peak pricing to manage crowding.
Recommendations related to Fare and Toll Evasion
The MTA should 'Cap' the number of allowed rides for weekly and monthly passes to protect against fraudulent abuse.
Fare and toll decisions should be made on a multi-year basis to ensure predictability for the system’s revenues and passengers.
The toll increases should be larger than currently proposed to ensure a fair share of revenue from motor vehicle users.
Transit fares should yield a revenue increase greater than 7.5 percent annually in 2013 and greater than 15 percent in 2015.
The MTA should explore peak pricing on subways and buses with a goal of reduced rush hour crowding.
The MTA should extend the fare calculation policy used for Senior Citizen EasyPay Metrocards to all EasyPay customers.
The MTA should begin a more limited senior citizen discount policy and explore its eventual elimination.
Key Data
7.5 percent
— Targeted revenue increase for 2013.
15 percent
— Targeted revenue increase for 2015.
42 percent
— Current reliance on fare revenue.
13 percent
— Current reliance on cross subsidies from motor vehicle use.
50 cent
— Proposed increase for EZ Pass users.
14 rides
— Number of rides for a weekly Metrocard.
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