NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — New York City will be moving to a “European-style” approach to bus fare enforcement, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said Tuesday.
The city will move away from using police for fare enforcement on buses, Lieber explained to a crowd at New York City Law School. Lieber said the shift will happen once OMNY is fully implemented in 2026.
Lieber said he hopes Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will prioritize bus fare enforcement, even as he explores making the bus system free.
”We’re going to move to European-style fare payment enforcement, where you’ll have fare agents, not cops, who can go up to people and say, ‘Can you show me your phone or your OMNY card and I can validate that you paid,’” Lieber said.
The NYPD is responsible for bus fare enforcement through its Bus Enforcement Unit, but it lacks sufficient staffing, Lieber added.
The MTA already deploys civilian EAGLE teams on local and Select Bus Services to stop fare evasion. These teams were expanded in 2024 to focus on high fare evasion rates. Since then, the EAGLE Team made over 370 stops on buses, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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On subways, the MTA has deployed unarmed “gate guards” at 208 subway stations, Hochul said. The MTA expects to install fare gates at 20 more stations in 2026 and 150 stations by 2029.
“We’re not relying strictly on enforcement,” Lieber said.
The NYPD declined to comment on the new fare enforcement system. The MTA did not immediately respond to PIX11 News’ request for comment.
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.
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