Fare payments are up 20% at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue-JFK Airport subway station since the MTA installed new fare gates in December, transit officials said.

That’s despite videos, like one that recently went viral, showing how easy it is to manipulate the gate to skip paying.

What You Need To Know

  • In her 2025 state budget proposal, Gov. Kathy Hochul voiced support for escalating fines for each time a fare evader is caught skipping out on payment

  • Under the new plan, first-time fare beaters would get off with just a documented warning

  • The second offense would result in a fine of $100, with half of that money paying for an OMNY card to turn offenders into paying customers and encourage better behavior

  • A third-time offense kicks the fine up to $150, followed by $200 for a fourth offense

On Wednesday morning, MTA police officers stood on the other side of the gates to deter any fare beating.

Cracking down on fare evasion has been a focus for the MTA as its costs increase. In 2022, the agency said it lost out on nearly $700 million due to fare and toll evasion.

An overhaul with respect to how fare evasion is policed is the next move, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. In her 2025 state budget proposal, Hochul voiced support for escalating fines for each time a fare evader is caught skipping out on payment.

Currently, the fine for fare evasion is $100, no matter how many times someone is caught.

“I think it's important for us to be paying our fares, because that keeps the trains running. It gets us to work on time, so I'm supportive of it,” said commuter Sanu Jaitley.

Under the new plan, first-time fare beaters would get off with just a documented warning.

The second offense would result in a fine of $100, with half of that money paying for an OMNY card to turn offenders into paying customers and encourage better behavior.

“That is ridiculous,” said Kay White Paniagua. “Why would you actually give somebody an incentive to do bad again?”

A third time offense kicks the fine up to $150, followed by $200 for a fourth offense.

Get caught a fifth time? Face the criminal charge of theft of service.

“They’ll think about it the next time," said Anthony Beard, another straphanger. "The next time is always, you got a consequence, you know, to think about. If you do it, they'll go to jail or get more fines."

Within this plan, there is a stipulation that fare evaders can have their case dismissed against them if they enroll in the MTA's Fair Fares program, which offers reduced fares for those who meet certain income requirements.