Bus ticket agents to monitor new B44 SBS buses

The bus monitors are coming.

On Sunday, December 8 — two-and-a-half weeks after introducing Select Bus Service (SBS) to the B44 bus line along Nostrand Avenue between Williamsburg Plaza and Sheepshead Bay — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will be deploying their “Eagle Team,” who will issue $100 fines to anyone who does not have an SBS ticket receipt.

The receipts prove that riders have pre-paid the bus fare. Receipts are provided at SBS bus stops, such as at the Flatbush Junction and Kings Highway, at little machines that resemble Muni-Meter machines. Fares can be paid using a MetroCard, but must be paid at the sidewalk machine instead of on the bus itself.

“The MTA’s ‘Eagle Team’ will be checking riders for their receipts [and] I strongly encourage all riders to be vigilant and store your ride receipts in a safe place after you pay your fare and board the bus,” said Councilmember Jumaane Williams. “No passenger who has paid their fare should be subject to a $100 fine just because they lost their ticket.”

Anyone who is ticketed has 90 days to appeal the summons to the MTA’s Transit Adjudication Bureau.

“Eagle Team” bus monitors are being sent to SBS routes that the MTA and NYPD consider “problematic” with fare evasion. As a new SBS line, the B44 is receiving the bus monitors to ensure that riders become acquainted with the new system, which is essentially a super-express bus route.

For more information about Transit Adjudication Bureau (TAB) summonses, how to appeal a summons, how to pay a summons, or to review relevant rules, visit the MTA’s TAB website.