#fare-enforcement

#fare-enforcement

At least, that's the vibe coming from The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which quietly rolled out a major change to Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) ticketing rules: as of early 2026, unused one-way tickets no longer linger for months in your mobile wallet or purse until you're ready to use them. Instead, they now expire at 4am the morning after purchase, a dramatic shift from the previous 60-day validity period that many commuters relied on to plan trips in advance.

The biggest problem with bus fare evasion comes from the back of buses, where fare-beaters tend to climb aboard while buses are stopped, and the front and back doors are open. Photo by Dean Moses MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber on Wednesday said the transit agency is still examining whether the new European-style of fare enforcement that, he said, is coming to city buses can be done while the vehicles are in motion or will require them to stop.

The new cloud-based scanners take at least 10 seconds to load tickets compared to two seconds for current scanners, complicating fare enforcement significantly.

"I had the tools to enforce it, but I didn't necessarily feel that I was being backed up by the management team when I did try to protect people's rights and the spots."