So do Sweden and Denmark, and they have bus fare on top of that. NYC uses that to subsidize 80% of the bus system and imposes user fees for the rest. The people who evade the fare are anti-social, and it’s toxic and ultimately detrimental to the goal of functional, widely used public transit to empathize with anti-social people.
Even in my home country of Bangladesh, which is extremely poor and dysfunctionally anti-social, I would guess fare evasion isn’t as high as in NYC (including the people riding on top of the bus).
Agreed, a lot of this 'empathy' is largely naivete, 48% of New Yorkers aren't so poor as to be unable to pay for the bus. Most of them are anti-social or lacking in a sense of duty towards the commons, making the fare free would not make them suddenly feel a sense of duty, they'd just become even more brazen in abusing the infrastructure.
Those who make $16*8 = $128/day before taxes, and <$100 after taxes, most definitely cannot afford to pay $5.80/day on the stupid bus fare, nor should they have to. They're getting a raw deal as it is for their labor.
> Anyone making that little doesn't pay net taxes.
The IRS certainly taxes an annual income of ~$30k, basically anything above $11k. Any benefits require jumping through a lot of hoops. Moreover, like everyone else, they also have to pay a sales tax for every non-food item they buy. There is also a property tax that they're indirectly responsible for if they're renting. When choosing between rent and bus fare, the choice is obvious.
Even in my home country of Bangladesh, which is extremely poor and dysfunctionally anti-social, I would guess fare evasion isn’t as high as in NYC (including the people riding on top of the bus).