New numbers from the MTA show that half of all public bus riders did not pay their fares in the first three months of 2024, continuing a trend that's been rising since COVID.

Without any discounts, a bus ride costs $2.90.

"I wasn't going to pay," admitted Sabaine Abrams, a student from East Flatbush. "A lot of families can't afford to pay for a bus every morning, every day going back and forth."

In 2022, the MTA says bus fare evasion cost them $315 million, and that the number has only grown since.

MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber blames it on bad habits started during the COVID-19 pandemic, when "we were trying to protect the drivers at the front, and everyone got in the back door, and nobody paid, and it's hard to put that genie back in the bottle."

Now, the MTA lists it as one of the major reasons why it expects to have a budget deficit by 2027, which could lead to service cuts.

The MTA has tried to by starting a fare enforcement program in 2022, and on the recommendation of a blue-ribbon panel, using members of The Eagle Team, along with the NYPD to give out both educational information and summons.

If the price is the issue, the MTA does offer different options to get discounted fares.