young, broke & AWESOME!

I like how the MTA assumes the alternative to busriders beating fares is paying fares, when in reality the alternative could be walking.

I was riding the B49 a few weeks ago and we had to wait for like 15 minutes at a stop while the busdriver insisted the police arrest 2 women who skipped paying fare by getting on the back door because the line was too long.  They were 2 middle aged black women who were cuffed on the sidewalk of a busy street, while the whole bus watched.  I really don’t think if I had been the one to skip the fare that I would have ended up in cuffs. 

And why are they arresting farebeaters?  Give them a fucking ticket and call it a day.  Isn’t that what they do when straphangers jump the turnstile?  They wanted to make carrying small quantities of marijuana a fine, but are arresting people who don’t pay $2.25 because sometimes the wait between buses is so long that it would take 20 minutes for everyone to pay the fare and get on.