Fare Evasion Maps: NYC's Hot Spots and Loopholes

Fare-evasion hot zones: Where are people skipping most?

Fare-evasion isn't spread evenly across NYC. Certain stations and neighborhoods draw the bulk of it. In fact, six of the top ten stations (on a "evasion per ride" basis) are on the A line in Rockaway, Queens, an area with high poverty and low ridership. Other hotspots include stops along the 3 and L lines in East New York / Brownsville, stations in Coney Island and Jamaica (Queens), and corners of East Harlem and the Bronx along the 4/B/D and 2/5 corridors.

These areas tend to share features: low-income populations, fewer transit alternatives, and weaker enforcement pressure historically. Some studies find that enforcement actions don't always correlate with local rates of crime, meaning stations in under-resourced areas may both suffer more evasion and get less policing.

Meanwhile, the MTA is leaning into data. It deploys gate guards, delayed egress, and new gate designs in stations flagged as high-evasion, and reports a 20 to 30% decrease in evasion in those target areas.