Here’s just the ticket for the city’s straphanger scofflaws.

The MTA is planning to forgive late fees on 3 million still-unpaid tickets issued to unruly bus and subway riders who have gotten dinged for a host of no-no’s — from graffiti-writing and vandalism to taking up too much room or making too much noise.

This is the first amnesty from the Transit Adjudication Board, the agency that has authority over summonses cops dole out to violators of NYC Transit’s “rules of conduct.”

It will be good during October only, officials said.

The MTA is hoping to use the amnesty to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid tickets, some of which have gone unpaid for as long as 25 years.
In fact, the bulk of the 3 million outstanding tickets date back to the early years of TAB, when a lot more tickets were written and more people simply ignored them, the agency said.

All will be forgiven starting Oct. 1, when ticket slouches will have 31 days to fork over the original fines on their tickets — and walk away from the ballooning late fees and penalties racked up over the years, the agency said.

“Every year, we see people with outstanding judgments forced to pay them in order to enlist in the military, secure a government job or buy a home,” said NYC Transit’s lawyer, Martin Schnabel.

The nonpayment can hit scofflaws where it hurts. He noted that 23,000 scofflaws this year had their state income-tax refunds reduced or wiped out because of unpaid judgments.

“For one month only, we will be allowing people the chance to come forward to clear their records — and clear their consciences — without having to pay the interest and penalties which have accrued over the years,” he said.

Most transit-rule violations fall in the $25-75 range. A few, like vandalism, carrying weapons or explosives or “harmful acts,” have a $100 price tag.

The NYPD issues about 125,000 summonses every year, about two-thirds of which get paid.

But officials said cops haven’t written as many tickets in 2010 as they did last year. The TAB estimates that only 112,000 will be issued by year’s end.

(Source: NY Post)