MTA gamifies swiping MetroCards for teens

Plus, why do trains run at slow speeds sometimes? [On The Way - from WNYC and Gothamist]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( Inside today's newsletter: Why do trains run at slow speeds sometimes?; Drivers blocking bus stops to be automatically ticketed; MTA stops work on Second Ave. subway extension MTA gamifies swiping MetroCards for teens By [Stephen Nessen]( The MTA has a new strategy in its war on fare evasion: convincing New York City students to pay the fare. This past weekend, I had the chance to interview outgoing NYC Transit President Richard Davey. [Our conversation]( mostly focused on the $15 billion hole in the MTA budget caused by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause on congestion pricing. But Davey also shared an interesting observation about fare beating: it tends to spike around 3 p.m., when school is dismissed. “It’s actually not fare evasion because these kids already have prepaid cards. They don’t want to swipe for whatever reason, so the fare evasion numbers are probably a little elevated as a result,” Davey said. That got me thinking – are students with MetroCards who can’t be bothered to swipe partly driving the MTA’s supposed “[existential threat]( of fare beating? As a father of two, I can confirm that many kids don’t bother swiping their free student MetroCards. My son lost his MetroCard and can’t be bothered to replace it. My daughter tries to use her MetroCard, but it’s so crumpled it no longer works. Enter the MTA’s [Extra Credit]( campaign, which is trying to sell students on the appeal of MetroCards (or later this year, [free OMNY cards](. Last month, the agency began giving away a free virtual reality Meta Quest 2 headset each week to a random high school student who uses their student MetroCard and has perfect attendance that week. [first image]( Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit “Our hope is to create a buzz around swiping while encouraging regular usage,” Chantel Cabrera, senior director of subways for coordination and solutions, said at last month’s MTA board meeting. “We hope to bring a holistic approach to promoting fare compliance that engages our youth.” Cabrera’s remarks might have a “[How do you do, fellow kids]( vibe, but the stakes are real. MTA data shows [fare evasion continues]( to rise, with 13.6% of subway riders skipping the fare and nearly half of bus riders not paying. The MTA expects to lose $285 million to subway fare evasion this year and $315 million to fare evasion on buses. Exactly how many of those fare beaters are students isn’t clear. But MTA Chair Janno Lieber has indicated he believes students are among the scofflaws at the turnstiles. “They have their student MetroCard in their pocket. So there’s a lack of education and culture and understanding of what it means to fare evade,” Lieber has said. “And we’re going to work on that because they’re part of New York. We need them to play by the same rules as everybody else.” What New York is reading this week - Following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s last-minute decision to indefinitely pause congestion pricing, [the MTA has stopped work]( on the Second Avenue subway extension into East Harlem -- mere hours after the governor herself said the long-sought project would proceed. - In March 2022, Tyler Greer crashed his souped-up red Infiniti into an onlooker while doing donuts in the middle of a crowd of street racing fans in Lower Manhattan. He pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and hasn’t had a license since. [And yet, he has since been accused of more crimes behind the wheel](. - Drivers who block bus stops will soon be [ticketed under a new program]( using cameras mounted to the front of MTA buses, transit officials announced on Monday. - How will Gov. Kathy Hochul find the “alternative funding” to proceed with construction projects to improve NYC’s subway system despite a pause on congestion pricing? Here’s a [look at her options](. - Aside from a slew of MTA subway projects now halted because of the congestion pricing pause, the future of more than $100 million in projects to combat air pollution in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods is also [in jeopardy.]( - Last week, Hochul faced criticism after she proposed a ban on certain types of [face masks on the NYC subway]( as health advocates were quick to point out the continued necessity of masking. - Can you put a price on the time New Yorkers lose sitting in traffic? The number the Riders Alliance came up with was [$20 billion annually.]( Curious commuter “Why do my trains run at such slow speeds sometimes? It feels like an amusement park monorail sometimes but other days it’s normal. I usually take the B or Q from Brooklyn to Manhattan and vice versa.” - Martin from brooklyn Answer from [Clayton Guse:]( There are two main reasons subway trains crawl along the tracks: traffic and track work. Train operators we spoke with say subway tracks are easily gummed up on some lines during rush hour, which causes the whole system to slow down. But the “amusement park monorail” speeds Martin may be noticing are largely the product of maintenance and construction work on the tracks. When a crew is on the roadbed, subway operators are typically prohibited from running their train at more than 10 mph. That’s true even if the train is running on a track adjacent to the workers. Trains sometimes move even slower when workers have to “clear up,” or go into spaces right next to the tracks to let a train pass by a worksite. Have a question for us? [Use this form]( to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter! Curious Commuter questions are exclusive for On The Way newsletter subscribers. Did a friend forward this to you? [Sign up for free here]( to start asking your questions. This week in NYC transit history This idea ought to sound familiar. Back on June 16, 1973, Bronx Rep. Jonathan Bingham, upstate Rep. Ogden Reid and Yonkers Mayor Alfred Del Bello proposed a new train service into Penn Station. Their proposal was to build a new branch off the Metro-North’s New Haven Line that would stop at new stations in the Bronx, head over the Hell Gate Bridge into Queens, then travel through the MTA’s East River tunnels en route to Penn Station. An MTA spokesperson at the time deemed the idea infeasible, saying the “tunnels under the East River are used to maximum capacity now during the peak periods.” More than 50 years later, transit officials are [moving forward with that very project](. It’s now called Penn Access, and the MTA says it’s very much feasible — thanks in part to diverting some Long Island Rail Road trains from the tunnels that run to Penn Station through a tube that now serves Grand Central Madison. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [YouTube]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.