Control Area Picture Measuring & Controlling Subway Fare Evasion

Photo: NYC Transit DRAW Measuring &

Controlling T R A N S I T Subway Fare Evasion: Improving Control Area NYCT’s Safety Picture and Security

Alla Reddy , Jacqueline Kuhls, and Alex Lu

Operations Planning Office of Management & Budget New York City Transit Authority

Presented at the 90 th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board Washington D.C. (2011)

New York City Transit Notice: Opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official New York City Transit policy or position of Metropolitan Transportation Authority or MTA New York TRBCity Transit. Paper #11-2016 Slide 1 Background • Fare evasion measured by station agents since early 1990s • Reduced from 6.9% to supposedly about 0.2% because of: – New AFC system – Graffiti control – Police patrols – Civil penalties – General crime reduction • Renewed concerns: – Booth destaffing program – Fare increases – ‘Panic bars’ on exit gates Photo: NYC Transit DRAW

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 2 Fare Collection Hardware

Photos: NYC Transit DRAW

Booth (Full Time & Part Time) HEETs

HXT Painted HXT (Not surveyed) (Not surveyed)

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 3 Fare Tariff & Defining Evasion • Official methods: – Children under 44” • Must crawl under turnstile • Not allowed alone – Passengers with bulk items, school field trips • Request agent assistance • Enter through gate – ‘Block’ or half -fare tickets • Surrender paper ticket • Enter through special entry turnstile • Unofficially: – Riders open gates for paid passengers with bulk items – Children squeeze through high-wheels with paid adults – Flash passes, uniforms, contractors go through gates

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 4 Turnstile Fare Evasion Methods Under Bump

Photos: NYC Transit PID Camera Footage Over Backcock

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 5 Gate Fare Evasion Methods Photos: NYC Transit PID Deliberate Camera Footage Opportunistic

1 2 Backcocks, then use panic bar to open gate Catches gate to enter after others exit Gate Left Open Questionable

1 2 Opens unlocked gate to enter, or gate ajar Police opens gate for stroller, bystander enters New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 6 Observation Methodology

Evasions Questionable Legal Entries Traditional Turnstile Tracked • Normal Turnstile • Under (over 44”) • School Group Entry • Jump • Police/Fire/Court: • Normal HEET Entry • Backcock (a) Badge • Child under 44”, with • Bump (b) Uniform fare-paying adult (a) Low TS • Flash Pass • Paper Ticket (b) HEET • Open Gate with Key: • Bulk Item Gate (Panic Bar) (a) TA key • Opportunistic (b) Emergency key • “Other” • Deliberate Not Tracked • Gate Left Open • Selling ‘Swipes’ • MetroCard passback

• Discreet observations in half-hour periods divided into six-minute blocks; stratified sample (income and throughput); capture unusual activity only. Entries recorded in one of 19 categories.

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 7 Data Collection Forms

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 8 3.5% Weekday Evasion by Hour Evasion per Psgr 1,000 Entries per Hour 900 Subway Fare 3.0% Sample size = 124,069 entries 800 Evasion Trends 2.5% 700 600 2.0% • Systemwide: 1.3% 500 1.5% • By time period: 400 300 – Peak periods: ~0.9% Fare EvasionRate (per Psgr) 1.0% 200 System EntryRate (Psgr/Hour) • more evasions per hour 0.5% 100 • but lower rates per passenger 0.0% 0 0 4 5 6 7 8 9 – Midday and nights: 1.3%~1.9% Hour of Day 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 • high evasion rates 6.0% Weekday Evasion by System Entries* 9.0 • but not many evaders 8.0 5.0% Evasion per Psgr – School hour: almost 3.0% Evasion per Hour 7.0 • highest evasions per psgr 4.0% 6.0 5.0 3.0% • By system entry rate: * Ex cludes afternoon school 4.0 discharge hour (15:00-15:59) – Busy stations: ~0.5% 2.0% 3.0 • low per-passenger rates 2.0 Fare EvasionRate (per Psgr)

1.0% FareEvasion Rate(per Hour) • high per-hour rates (8.0 /hr) 1.0 – Quiet stations: up to 5.5% 0.0% 0.0 • high per-passenger rates Quiet stations Busy stations • low per-hour rates (<1.0 /hr) 0.02 (0.01~0.02) 0.04 (0.03~0.04) 0.06 (0.05~0.07) 0.09 (0.08~0.10) 0.12 (0.11~0.13) 0.16 (0.14~0.18) 0.21 (0.19~0.22) 0.26 (0.23~0.27) 0.31 (0.28~0.33) 0.39 (0.34~0.42) 0.48 (0.43~0.52) 0.61 (0.53~0.69) 0.84 (0.70~1.00) 1.66 (1.01~5.56) Avg & Range, System Entries per Hour (Thousands) Sample size = 170,615 entries

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 9 2.5% Weekday Evasion by Median Income 8.0

7.0 Evasion Trends: * Ex cludes afternoon school 2.0% discharge hour (15:00-15:59) 6.0

Income & Season Evasion per Psgr 5.0 1.5% Evasion per Hour 4.0 1.0% • By median income 3.0

– Higher evasions observed in 2.0 Fare EvasionRate (per Psgr)

0.5% Fare EvasionRate (perHour) stations where adjacent census 1.0 tract median income < $30k 0.0% 0.0 6~18 18~24 24~28 28~32 32~36 36~42 42~48 48~62 62~70 70~86 86~176 – No effect when income > $30k Station Median Income Range ($ Thousands) Sample size = 167,817 entries

2.0% Seasonality of Fare Evasion 8.0 Evasion per Psgr 1.8% Evasion per Hour 7.0 • Seasonality 1.6% 6.0 – Evasion is more prevalent 1.4% 1.2% 5.0 during warm summer months 1.0% 4.0 0.8% • Summer = ~1.7% 3.0 0.6% Winter = ~0.9% 2.0

FareEvasion Rate (per Psgr) 0.4% FareEvasion Rate (per Hour) • Consistent with literature on 0.2% 1.0 general crime trends 0.0% 0.0 • Seasonal ridership impacts 09/04~09/06 09/05~09/07 09/06~09/08 09/07~09/09 09/08~09/10 09/09~09/11 09/10~09/12 09/11~10/01 09/12~10/02 10/01~10/03 10/02~10/04 10/03~10/05 10/04~10/06 10/05~10/07 10/06~10/08

(trip purpose) Reporting Period (Rolling Average) Sample size = 37,269 entries per period

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 10 Combating Fare Evasion • Properly locking service access gates at all times • Improve communication of child height restrictions • Fare control configuration and staff presence don’t seem to have much effect – Gate evasion rates: 0.9% unstaffed, 1.0% staffed – High-wheel evasion rates: 1.2% unstaffed, 1.0% staffed • Tackling organized fare abuse operations (swipers) – Vending machine vandalism costs repair expenses – Swiping impacts revenue – Work with NYPD Transit Bureau and community courts Photo: NYC Transit DRAW – Use video evidence if available

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 11 Fare Enforcement Issues • Legal framework – New York’s rules were well established by the 1980s – Important clarifications: • arrest versus summons • undercover enforcement permissible? • arresting powers • dispute/appeals process – Expected fines versus fares • New York’s fine = $100 • progressive? • “street economics” • “Surge” enforcement • Video recording cameras – Shared use for anti-terrorism

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 12 Public Relations

• Multi-pronged approach is required to manage evasion – AFC security & audit features – Legal enforcement framework – Data collection & analysis to identify ‘hot spots’ – Task-force based approach – Comprehensive press strategy • Information sharing is key – Crime of opportunity – Controls are necessary • Future work – Measurable benefits of fare enforcement – Evader-criminal correlation – Countermeasure effectiveness – Socio-demographic patterns Photo: NYC Transit DRAW

New York City Transit TRB Paper #11-2016 Slide 14 Acknowledgements

• Ben Lonner, Kishor Sharma, Justin Serina – MTA Audit Services • Raymond Diaz, Edward O’Brien, Jim Donovan – NYPD Transit Bureau • NYCT Colleagues in – System Data & Research – Automated Fare Collection – Office of Management & Budget • TRB AP030 Committee’s Anonymous Reviewers

Photo: Amanda Marsh