Just as it prepares to fire hundreds of subway booth agents, the MTA has announced new high figures for turnstile-jumping and fare flouting by other means. Commuters who ride without MetroCards cost the transit system about $27 million last year, according to the Daily News, up from a previous calculation of $7 million. "The MTA's only going to make jumping the turnstile more inviting by slashing scores of clerks from subway station entrances," Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign warned, but the MTA says the big statistical jump is misleading.
The agency claims the new numbers aren't evidence of an increase in fare beating, but rather the results of a new counting system, that more accurately calculates how many commuters jump turnstiles or enter through emergency gates. Previously, clerks were supposed to count ornery riders one day each month, but didn't come close to catching all of them. A better way to do it was to plant "traffic checkers" at randomly selected turnstiles around the city. Since token booth attendants don't count the offenders and they're also "a bit rude," maybe "robot doormen" are the answer?
