Recently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, has been stepping up its attempts to reduce fare dodging in the subway. The issue of fare dodging costs the MTA about $200 million dollars a year. Hiring 500 new police officers for the subway will cost $249 million, and the MTA is already running a $400-million-plus deficit. Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, wants to increase the number of officers from 670 to 1200, almost doubling it.
Reasons behind this seem illogical. The primary cause of dodging fares is because people can't afford the cost of transportation to their workplaces. Since the minimum wage does not apply to many jobs in food service, individuals who have to pay $2.75 for a subway fare will have to give up hours of wages over a week of work.
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| An unarmed young black man is arrested by over a dozen officers without resisting |
As a result of the announced police presence increase, there have been several protests after two young black men were confronted on different occasions by numerous police officers for fare dodging. One subway car was surrounded, with police aiming pistols and rifles at the young man—putting dozens of lives at risk—for $2.75. Another black man was tased for skipping the fare. The NYC movement known as Decolonize This Place, which supports indigenous rights, black liberation, and a free Palestine, organized a protest during which Decolonize This Place supporters called for no-fee MTA transportation.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/11/14/mta-will-spend-249m-on-new-cops-to-save-200m-on-fare-evasion/
https://gothamist.com/news/videos-hyperaggressive-cops-brooklyn-subways-spark-outrage-calls-discipline
https://twitter.com/PopChassid/status/1187838293104304130
Seeing as hiring more officers costs more than the lost transit fare, this seems to be less about money and more about intimidation. Instead of saving up the money and perhaps reducing subway fees for people who cannot afford it, they are creating a hostile environment in which no one wants to take public transportation. People still need to get to their jobs, so implementing more police officers does not seem to benefit anyone.
ReplyDeleteThis case illustrates the law enforcement's prejudice and bias against the African American community. Both incidents involving fare dodging and an excessive reaction by the police were against black men. Fare dodging is probably being practiced by every color and race in NYC, however, the police once again targets the black community. Furthermore, the number of crimes that occur in New York City are countless and the fare dodging surely does not top the list. I agree with Ilse about the irony of adding a higher cost for staff to limit the problem of fare dodging.
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