Confused by the new LIRR fare policy? Here are some answers

The president of the LIRR is trumpeting the success of the railroad’s updated fare policy, which he said has resulted in a 29% drop in late activations of mobile tickets, even as complaints continue to pour in from those unhappy with the restrictive new rules, which include an $8 penalty for on-board ticket activations.

But Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say that less than 0.5% of ticket activations have been assessed a late fee, and that many more Long Island Rail Road commuters are benefiting from the changes, which aim to streamline onboard ticket collection and make sure all riders pay their fair share.

The new policy shrinks validity periods for many tickets from two months to just one day, does away with roundtrip and 10-trip tickets, and doles out penalties for passengers who wait until a conductor comes around before activating electronic tickets.

Many Long Island commuters have questions about the LIRR’s new ticketing rules. Here are some answers:

Why did the MTA make these changes?

Although LIRR officials say they collected more than 97% of all fares last year, as electronic tickets have grown to be used by nearly three-quarters of customers, problems have arisen with some passengers holding off activating their tickets with the hope that a conductor never checks them and they can save them for future use. The MTA’s chairman has called the practice “opportunistic fare evasion.” By reducing validity periods to one day and issuing $8 surcharges to customers who persistently activate their tickets late, the railroad hopes to speed up ticket collection and minimize the potential for free rides.

How does the LIRR know whether or not you activated your mobile ticket on board a train?

LIRR president Rob Free said the railroad relies on the MTA’s TrainTime app measuring the time between when a ticket is activated and when it is scanned by a conductor. If the two happen in quick succession, the railroad assumes a rider activated the ticket onboard a train. “We’re not tracking people’s locations. It’s not Big Brother in the sky looking down on them. It’s based on an algorithm within the app,” Free said. After being issued an unspecified number of warnings, riders may find they are unable to purchase a new ticket on the app until they pay an $8 surcharge.

What if a conductor never scans my ticket?

According to the LIRR, late activations of mobile tickets are only recorded if a conductor electronically scans a mobile ticket. Although Free and LIRR conductors’ union leader Anthony Simon said ticket collectors are required to scan all electronic tickets, many riders say conductors often just look at their mobile tickets, but don’t scan them. Simon said that in the past, conductors sometimes didn’t scan tickets because of malfunctioning equipment, but now are armed with more reliable devices. A Newsday reporter traveling to and from Jamaica on Thursday to interview Free did not have his mobile ticket scanned in either direction.

Can’t I avoid these issues by buying paper tickets?

While paper tickets aren’t subject to the $8 surcharge for late activation, riders can still be hit with the same fee if they purchase a paper ticket on a train, rather than at a station before boarding. What’s more, paper one-way tickets also had their validity period shrunk to just one day, meaning that they can’t be saved for a future date if they are not punched by a conductor. That was unwelcome news for paper ticket user Shawn Grace, who counted on the occasional missed ticket collection to reduce his commuting costs. “Sometimes a conductor may not get to you in a timely fashion,” said Grace, who lives in Brooklyn and works in Freeport. “But now you still have to pay for a whole other ticket,”

So when should I buy and activate my LIRR ticket?

If you’re certain you’re going to be using the LIRR on a certain day, you can purchase your electronic ticket anytime that day, because it will be good until 4 a.m. the next day. Once activated, electronic tickets are valid for an unspecified amount of time, calculated to be long enough to complete your trip. To maximize safety, Free recommended that customers activate tickets while waiting for their train on a platform, and not as they’re boarding a train. Because of the potential for unexpected train delays or cancelations, it’s a good idea to check on the status of your train, either at a station or on the TrainTime app, before activating. Free noted that more than 96% of LIRR trains operated on time in 2025. “It’s pretty predictable when that train is going to arrive,” he said.

If tickets expire in one day, doesn’t this new policy provide even less incentive for conductors to do their jobs?

Free and Simon said that, on the contrary, streamlining the ticket collection process will help ensure that conductors can tend to their various responsibilities, including making announcements, testing brakes, opening doors and ensuring the safe operation of the train. “We’re not slacking off on our duties. Does this make the fare collection a little quicker? Yes. Does it give us more time to do other parts of our jobs, of course it does,” Simon said. “We’re qualified conductors. We’re not just ticket takers.” Still, LIRR rider Shawna Rudder believes the changes shouldn’t be necessary. “Why am I being punished if a conductor decides not to come and check the tickets?” said Rudder, of Brooklyn, as she waited for her train at Jamaica Thursday.

Is there a better way?

The new fare policies, which were also adopted by sister MTA railroad Metro-North, are more restrictive than many other commuter railroads in the United States, including those in New Jersey, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. Those railroads don’t include surcharges for onboard mobile ticket activations and have ticket validity period ranging from 14 to 90 days. Some riders have proposed a gated fare system, where tickets are checked before passengers board — as the LIRR occasionally does at Penn Station and at major sporting events and concerts. “If you were to build a train (system) today from scratch, you would eliminate these conductors collecting tickets immediately,” Westbury rider Stuart Dornfield said of the nearly 200-year-old railroad. The LIRR Commuter Council has said it will research other commuter railroads’ fare policies for potential improvements. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Commuter Council chairman Gerard Bringmann said. “So if enough people make enough noise, there may be some changes.”

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.