The Gentrification of Fare Evasion

Two cities on opposite coasts may be experiencing the gentrification of fare evasion. Janno Lieber, head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, recently complained that security cameras had captured among the 12.5 percent of riders who don’t swipe at subway turnstiles “countless images of people in designer clothes, carrying $7 lattes, waltzing through emergency gates at Wall Street or on the Upper East Side.” Fare evasion could cost the MTA as much as $500 million this year, Lieber noted. The complaint echoed that of Peter Rogoff, the chief of Seattle and Tacoma’s Sound Transit, who recently singled out riders who paid for seats and $13 beers at a Mariners game but didn’t pay their fares afterward. Rogoff recently said Sound Transit was facing insolvency and was on a “financially unsustainable” trajectory. Read Full Article »