MTA pilot program offering commuters free bus rides set to end

An MTA pilot program that allowed commuters to ride for free along some bus routes across the five boroughs ends on Sunday.

Several bus routes are impacted, including the B60, BX18, M116, Q4, S46 and S96.

The program, which New York State funded, expires Sept. 1.

The impact the free rides had on commuters was noticeable. The MTA says ridership along the routes with free service increased by 35 percent during the pilot program.

The end of free rides comes as the agency begins to crack down on bus fare evaders . The MTA, in concert with the NYPD, has deployed agents to monitor bus routes with high evasion rates and are issuing summonses to offenders.

The agency says it loses hundreds of millions of dollars each year from people who don't pay their bus fares, which amounts to almost half of bus riders.

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