MTA Bus Fare Evasion Rates by Trip Type and Quarter

Quarterly bus fare evasion rates for the New York City Transit system, estimated from Automated Passenger Counters beginning in Q1 2020. The data, published by data.ny.gov, tracks evasion percentages separately for Local/Limited, Express, and Select Bus Service. It was last updated in January 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in Fare Evasion rates across different Time Periods.
• Compare Fare Evasion percentages between Local/Limited, Express, and Select Bus Service Trip Types.
• Model the impact of service changes or enforcement policies on Fare Evasion rates over time.
• Benchmark quarterly Fare Evasion performance for different bus service categories.

Strengths

• Quarterly time-series data allows for trend analysis.
• Separate reporting for three distinct Trip Types (Local/Limited, Express, Select Bus Service).

Limitations

• Row count and sample size for rate calculation are unknown.
• Methodology changed from survey-based to Automated Passenger Counter-based in Q1 2020, potentially affecting time-series consistency.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the New York City Transit system.

Provenance

Source

data.ny.gov / New York City Transit.

Collection Method

Calculated systemwide using Automated Passenger Counters (post-Q1 2020); prior estimates used surveys by traffic checkers.

Time Range

Beginning 2019.

Freshness

Updated quarterly; last update was January 2026.

Geography

New York City Transit bus system.