MTA Suspends EAGLE Fare Enforcement Teams After Second Video of Violent Encounter Surfaces

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended its EAGLE Team fare-enforcement agents across the entire bus network after a second video of a violent incident between agents and a rider surfaced on social media. The first incident involved Kyle Taylor, a Brooklyn educator, who was assaulted on a B14 bus in October while reportedly holding a valid paper transfer; he is suing the MTA for $25 million. The second footage, from several months earlier, was recently discovered online and showed another violent encounter involving agents and a rider. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said the agency was not willing to keep the teams active in the field until it could verify that all protocols were being followed. The suspension affects all 350 unarmed EAGLE agents, whose role is to issue summonses and, if necessary, remove passengers who refuse to pay fares or provide identification. The program was introduced partly to tackle fare evasion, which runs at approximately 50 percent on buses compared with about 10 percent on subways. No timeline for completing the investigation or reinstating the agents was announced. The suspension adds to mounting scrutiny of the fare-enforcement initiative at a time when the MTA is also contending with broader questions about safety and conduct on the transit system.