New budget forbids MTA from using facial recognition to bust fare evaders

The Metropolitan Transit Authority has been barred from using facial recognition software to bust fare evaders, according to a new measure quietly passed in Albany.

The prohibition was slipped unnoticed into the state’s $237 billion budget, which passed last month.

The new law states the MTA must “not use, or arrange for the use, of biometric identifying technology, including but not limited to facial recognition technology, to enforce rules relating to the payment of fares.”

Like many tweaks, the measure was shoehorned into the budget without public debate or comment.

State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani of Queens told told Gothamist that facial recognition technology was a concern because it “could invade upon people’s lives through expanded surveillance and through the criminalization of just existing within the public sphere.”

The Democratic Socialist later insisted to The Post he wasn’t involved with the measure to ban the tech.

The chronically cash-strapped agency lost $700 million to fare theft in 2023, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

The New York Police Department also does not use facial recognition to assist in finding fare evaders, an police spokesman said.

Albany Republicans expressed outrage at the new rule.

“As New York continuously becomes an unsafe and an unfordable place to live, our state government continues to tie the hands of our law enforcement and not hold people accountable for their actions,” said Brooklyn GOP Assemblyman Michael Tannousis. “The MTA loses $700 million a year in fare evasion and instead of giving the right tools to retain these funds, they are relying on congestion pricing to raise $1 billion from our hardworking middle class.”