One of the few positives during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City has been free buses. For months, the MTA suspended fare collection and blocked the front of buses to protect drivers from the (potentially) public transporting coronavirus. As the worst public health crisis wears off, the agency said Tuesday that free travel must end.
“We have to make sure we balance security with charging fees,” said New York City Transit Acting President Sarah Feinberg. “But, starting in August, at some point we are going to start opening that rate box again.”
After all, the MTA faces a deficit of $ 10 billion.
The way that a NYC Transit bus is currently locked for the driver.
Jen Chung / Gothamist
The number of bus passengers has recovered by more than one million passengers per day (half of its number of passengers before the pandemic), in part as a result of free trips with bus passengers climbing through the back doors. and the public perception that buses are safer than subways. However, as Feinberg noted, the safety of bus drivers remains critical: of the 131 MTA workers who died from COVID-19, 41 of them worked at the bus division.
Fare collection will begin when the MTA installs new protective plastic barriers around drivers on city buses and plastic curtain partitions on express buses.
Installation is expected to be completed by fall on all buses. Passengers will not be able to sit in the front rows yet, but will be able to board from the front to pay the fare.
The agency has not decided whether to bring back fare-winning “eagle teams” to verify whether or not the passengers paid.
Most buses have returned to their regular schedules, and speeds continue to rise about 15 percent, due to fewer cars on the road. That is below a recent high of 20 percent faster than before the pandemic.
Earlier this month, the city agreed to install 20 miles of new bus lanes, which are also expected to help buses move forward.
