Advocates rail MTA for continuation of cashless subway booths

A comment from an MTA official on the unlikely return of booth transactions sparked outrage. Eagle file photo by David Brand

By Rachel Vick

Surface transition might pose a low risk of COVID transmission, but the MTA will continue pandemic-era restrictions on booth agents accepting cash as the system embraces the OMNY tap and go, Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren said during a public hearing earlier this week.

Though the agency walked back the statement Wednesday night in response to public outcry that shortly followed, advocates argue the decision will only harm riders, many of whom depend on cash options.

"Ending cash payment at subway booths, given the unavailability and unreliability of MetroCard machines, will compel riders to skip paying – risking arrest, detention, fines, and severe collateral consequences,” said Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum.

New Yorkers are more likely not to have bank accounts than anywhere else in the country, according to a report from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. In 2017, over 8 percent of Queens households — 66,800 homes — were unbanked.

Plum added that denying MTA riders the option while continuing to accept cash on commuter trains like the Long Island Rail Road “is totally inequitable and a slap in the face to low-income communities who have borne the brunt of the pandemic.”

During the first quarter of 2021, over 1,800 fare evasion summons were issued in Queens — 48 percent of which were issued to Black people, according to NYPD data.  The number is up from 857 summons from the same period in 2020, pre-pandemic.

Transit advocates and riders say that limiting booth services as a fail safe will leave cash-only riders with no alternatives when  machines malfunction, though MTA leaders reiterated that cash payments will still be accepted at machines and select street level vendors.

“To be clear, no decision has been made and no decision was announced yesterday regarding cash returning to station booths,” said Acting Chief Communications Officer Tim Minton after the meeting. 

“The MTA continues to review logistics and other considerations associated with accepting cash payments at subway station booths post-pandemic,” he added. “As we deliberately review future customer access to all forms of payment, we will continue to make the safety of our employees a top priority.”