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Lil' Fare Beaters Make Up 43% of Subway Scofflaws
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 20, 2011
Modified Jul 20, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 20, 2011
Modified Jul 20, 2011
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Kids ride the subway for free if they're 44 inches or shorter. Apparently that hasn't stopped plenty of taller children from embarking on a life of crime, ducking through turnstiles or opening the emergency gate (which we all know is a capital offense). According to a recent MTA report, 43% of people who skip fares are kids. But it seems that some of the kids' parents are copacetic with their progeny's proscribed behavior. "The MTA's dumb…as long as they don't enforce it, we'll keep doing it," one mother tells the Daily News, perhaps confusing the MTA with The Met: "We pay for every little thing, and the fare is too expensive to begin with. I don't feel guilty."
Fare-beating reaches an all-time high around 3 p.m. when the jails schools let out, and the scofflaws end up costing the agency "millions." While the report noted that some people are unaware of the height restrictions, some beat the fare because they can, like one mother of a 9-year-old who said, "No one's ever stopped me, and until they do, we'll keep doing this." That's the spirit! One mother who applied for a student card for her daughter hasn't killed her Jiminy Cricket quite yet, acknowledging that the MTA "never enforce it. I feel bad though." Fare beating still seems more malicious on the bus, when you actually have to face a human being and essentially deny their existence.
Tagged
crime
fare beaters
fare skipping
MTA
subway
turnstile jumping
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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