If you’ve ever been on public transit, you know it’s not really just about the fare dodgers. It’s also about having someone, anyone, with authority regularly check up on things to crack down on the crazy shit happening that will discourage average riders from using the system — people blaring music, dance crews putting on impromptu shows on your train car, junkies overdosing in the corner, some guy making the train platform his permanent home, people pissing, shitting and vomiting in the wrong locations, influencers shooting their latest TikTok.
I’m all for free public transit, but I’d still want to see a staff presence on board telling people that don’t know how to behave in public to cut it the fuck out.
How the fuck are more cops playing Pokemon GO at the entrance to the subway gonna stop any of that? The trains are entirely unsecured. Once you get past the entrance you're on fuckin Pandora from Borderlands.
In fact, cops give such few fucks that one guy was stabbed in front of a cop on the subway and took the cop's inaction to the Supreme Court, who ruled that police have no duty to protect you. RadioLab covered it.
As for appropriation of funds, most stations are in a constant state of disrepair. The majority of them are not accessible, and only like two stations out of hundreds have safety rails on the platform. The trains also seem to catch on fire or derail every other day. There are plenty other things the MTA could do with $150M to actually make the subways safe. We need elevators more than we need cops.