New fare inspection policies reflect poorly on metro transit service
You’ve gathered your books, pens, cute highlighters and notebooks and made arrangements for tuition. You’re registered for classes and enjoying the “welcome” from the university and friends. Now try to make sure the fall term does not include being welcomed in with TriMet’s new $175 fine for not paying the fare to ride the MAX. If a fare inspector or transit officer is having a bad day, it could also include a 30-day exclusion from riding.
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New fare inspection policies reflect poorly on metro transit service
You’ve gathered your books, pens, cute highlighters and notebooks and made arrangements for tuition. You’re registered for classes and enjoying the “welcome” from the university and friends. Now try to make sure the fall term does not include being welcomed in with TriMet’s new $175 fine for not paying the fare to ride the MAX. If a fare inspector or transit officer is having a bad day, it could also include a 30-day exclusion from riding.
Susannah Beckett / Vanguard Staff
On July 20, TriMet shifted away from “education” to stricter enforcement of fare payment, hiring six new fare inspectors and moving away from issuing warnings to issuing $175 tickets to anyone caught without fare—including first-time offenders. According to Mary Fetsch, communications director for TriMet, warnings about fare payment dropped from 1,726 in August 2010 to 701 in August 2011, while tickets issued for the offense increased from 441 in August 2010 to 2,254 in August of this year.
Will students and the general public be happy to see the regular freeloaders nailed? Or will they have concerns for fairness and nervousness for themselves?
“It’s about fairness and equity,” Fetsch said. According to her, one inspector claims that, overall, people are “ecstatic” about the enforcement and that riders will be paying their fair share. She compares transit riders who “take a chance on beating the system or getting a ticket” to vehicle drivers who use street parking without paying the meters.
But typical parking tickets are $34 for overtime parking and $60 for exceeding two hours in a permitted area. Are transit freeloaders so much more heinous than parking “squatters” that they need to pay $175?
People are not as “ecstatic” as Fetsch’s inspector claimed. Out of eleven transit riders interviewed, only one would describe the new enforcement as “great.” A majority were on the fence or thought it was terribly unfair.
PSU vocal performance major Angela Taylor and PSU pre-nursing major Austin Rufener use passes, so they are not nervous for themselves. Taylor could only muster “so-so” for the idea of cracking down on scofflaws. However, Rufener remembers times when he forgot his pass and appreciated the break that bus drivers gave him.
Jen Lawrence, an OHSU social worker, and Jackie Miller, a volunteer organizer for Bus Riders Unite!, were more demonstrative. “I think it is really unfortunate that we have to charge for public transportation (at all) because there are a lot of people who can’t afford it,” Lawrence said.
Miller calls the fine “regressive and unfair.” According to her, “most people who will get the fine are single-fair users. They can’t afford the $92 monthly pass. They are cash poor. They can’t afford the ticket, either.” Transit, she says, “is a human right.” Bus Riders Unite! is currently advocating for a uniform three-hour transfer period on bus and MAX.
Fetsch responded, “Fare inspectors have latitude to give warnings as they see fit, but that is not their first ‘go to’ tool.”
Sounds like flexibility is waning at TriMet, as is education.
Most people I spoke with will not be ultimately changing their riding habits. But DeVontae Gravely, a package express worker, and his friend Dylan Gates, a University of Oregon student, are definitely upset enough by this to consider it.
Gravely received the $175 ticket for his first offense, and is headed to Multnomah County Court soon, hoping to plead for “something like community service” instead of the fine. “If it’s your first time,” he said, “you should have a warning.”
Both Gravely and Gates stated they would be using Trimet less.
How does TriMet compare with other cities’ transit fines? First-time fare skippers in Seattle get a $124 fine, according to a King County Metro Transit administrator. “Officers have leeway to give warnings,” he said. A second offense is very serious: third-degree theft, a criminal misdemeanor and the equivalent of shoplifting. There are higher fines and jail time is a real possibility. “At that point, they’ve been given warnings already,” the official said.
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Association website describes fines “of up to $500.”
On the face of it, the idea of TriMet cracking down on the regularly freeloading riders is positive. They tend to bring problems beyond loss of revenue. But many people simply have problems from time to time with getting their fares together, but are honest and believe in paying. I was excluded for 30 days myself; I hopped an arriving MAX in Gresham with no time to go to the machine to buy a ticket. Not much of a marketing plan, I think, when you treat your best riders and other honest people like scofflaws.
Bring on the fare inspectors, for fairness, but bring down the fines. Why discriminate against transit riders when compared to vehicle drivers who overstay in the streets?
And fare inspectors should be flexible and compassionate. The purpose of such a program is to deter the scofflaws, not to punish as many people as possible. Fare inspectors have an opportunity to be goodwill ambassadors for TriMet by showing flexibility, rather than being iron-fisted about it.
Theo Burke
Theo Burke spent 20 years as a professional musician and studied music at Arizona State. He's performed with Doc Severensin, Bo Diddley, and the Coasters. He's also attended over 200 concerts.
Now, he is a journalist. He writes The Campus Critic column for the PSU Vanguard newspaper (PSUVanguard.com), and hosts the talk-and-news-show "The Raging Moderate" on KPSU.org (KPSU.org/programs/the_raging_moderate). He graduates from Portland State in Dec. 2013 with a BA in Liberal Studies with minors in Writing, Communication, and Political Science.
He also worked on several political campaigns from 2003-2012, including Obama For America in Ohio '08 and Ron Wyden for Senate in Oregon 2010.
I’m sorry – I disagree strongly with your editorial on fare enforcement by Tri-Met. It really is about time that tickets were given out instead of just warnings. I’m one of those that has a monthly pass, but I really don’t see anything wrong with asking people to pay the appropriate fare. You mentioned hoping on MAX without purchasing a ticket, and were then nailed when a fare inspector came along. Was that the last train of the day? If so, I’ll cut you some slack. If not, there’s almost always another train coming in about 15 minutes or so – if you would have been late, well then, maybe you should have started out earlier. It’s been my experience that those who usually are ticketed are chronic offenders – not the true first time user. It’s also been my experience that true first time offenders can be easily detected by their explanations to the fare inspectors and are given warnings. However, if you live in Portland, and even occasionally stick your head out of your front door, you should know that you are expected to pay. I do however, agree that the transfer time ought to be increased to 3 hours.
Costs keep rising for everyone, including Tri-Met. They’ve been “flexible and compassionate” for the last several years, and it’s my observation as a daily rider that the rate of those riding without paying continues to grow, not decrease as they are “educated.” Bus drivers have riders refusing to pay, spitting on them, barging past riders who are paying —– I have little to no sympathy for them. Call me cold, call me callous, whatever. I also always carry a booklet of Tri-Met tickets, and if I see someone who truly seems to be in distress because they don’t have the correct fare, I’ll toss one of my tickets into the mix.
But, for those who abuse the system by riding without paying ——- sorry. No tears shed here.
But typical parking tickets are $34 for overtime parking and $60 for exceeding two hours in a permitted area. Are transit freeloaders so much more heinous than parking “squatters” that they need to pay $175?
The difference is that parking on a street is not a service – the parking fees downtown are specifically a revenue scheme to cover various downtown improvements (the Streetcar gets much of its revenue from parking revenues – NOT rider revenues.) There is no service cost incurred by the City of Portland when you park on a street – the street’s already there; it’s going to be maintained no matter what thanks to gas tax revenues. And you don’t even pay to park everywhere, just in specific parking districts.
TriMet is a service which has a direct operating cost. Ride without paying and it is “theft of services” – not unlike stealing cable TV or telephone service.
As a daily TriMet rider who pays his fare each day I don’t feel the need to be hit with service cuts, poor service, and old, unreliable buses while subsidizing someone else’s trip. It’s bad enough that MAX riders get “free” rides downtown and motorists get to park for “free” at various TriMet owned and operated parking lots. We all share the ride – we should all pay for the ride. If you can’t afford it, find another way. If you’re truly in need there are service agencies that have obtained TriMet tickets and I’m sure they’ll give you an appropriate amount for necessary trips. TriMet is not a homeless shelter nor is it a “hangout”.
A couple of months ago I was running late for work. I had seven 2 hour tickets that I could validate prior to getting on the MAX. I got to the stop and thought “awesome the train is almost here.” I tried to validate my ticket but the validator did not work. Knowing that the next train would take 15 minutes to arrive I did not want run across the street and try the validator at the stop going the other way. I took my chances with the hope that the train would stop long enough for me to validate at the next stop. At the next stop a fare inspector came on. I thought “great I can get him to validate this.”
I tried to explain and have him sign the ticket or something and also make a note of the broken validator. Instead he made me get off the train with him while he wrote me a ticket. I probably could have gotten away with not paying if I just played it cool, but instead I got a ticket because I was trying to pay, and I still ended up late for work.
I went to court a month later and found out the first trial would not be available for three months. They gave us in the Tri-Met line 3 options, pay 50 dollars, do Community service, or go to trial. I took CS because I didn’t want to give anymore money to tri-met(found out later they don’t get any of the fines now). It wasn’t horrible but I will not ride tri-met because it is just not worth it. I can’t rely on the machines working so I would have to plan to arrive early. Since it costs 4.80 to go downtown on tri-met and only 5.50 to park plus gas. The extra cost is worth not dealing with the hassel. Tri-met lost my business because they spend time busting people who have trouble with machines rather then the freeloaders who they know can’t pay.
Just the other day i recieved a 175$ citation for having a monthly pass that was one day out of date. Living month to month, i don’t have the flexibility to buy passes in advance, and have to use my paycheck on the 1st to buy one. I had been ill the day of the first, so on the second i was going to pick up my check and get my pass. I still had the previous six months worth of previous month passes. Trimet riding costs me more than $267 this month, and i may end up with a warrant for being unable to pay the fine on top of regular costs. For this kind of money, i could just go get a car.
If you ride, you should pay – if your car runs out of gas, you walk. I pay every month – no excuses here. Tri-met is not a charity organization. They are strapped enough as it is – a business will cease to be in business if they do not receive the revenue to which they are entitled. Does 7-Eleven give you a free gallon of milk if you don’t have $$$? How about free cab fare? Come on people, get a life – interestingly enough the biggest scofflaws seem to be the ones with their feet and bags on the seats taking up space that us folks that pay for the priviledge to ride. Quit whining and looking for free handouts. If you got caught because you don’t have a ticket, you deserve the fine. And for those that whine about the validators not working, I have heard many people use that excuse for the very validator that worked for me on the same trip.
I will not ride trim-met if at all possible. It smells like urine and homeless people. The trains interior are not clean. The other day from the airport, 3 street kids got on with their pit bull at the Rose quarter and were dropping F-bombs left and right, behaving loudly, and obnoxiously. No doubt they paid nothing to get on the train. It represented our city so poorly, and in a decent area of town. That people who use Max for travel from airport are often from out of town, or visiting – if I was a visitor to Portland, I would never take that airport train again. No way. Tri-met needs to step up its security staff check everyone’s ticket routinely, not just here and there.
My first time visiting Portland, I rode Tri-met. A “helpful” stranger told me the bus was free. However, turns out it is only free is a small radius called Fareless Square. Once I traveled out side of it, I was asked to show a ticket I did not have, and then given a huge fine. My trip to Portland was ruined and I have never thought of the city in a fond light since.
I’m sorry – I disagree strongly with your editorial on fare enforcement by Tri-Met. It really is about time that tickets were given out instead of just warnings. I’m one of those that has a monthly pass, but I really don’t see anything wrong with asking people to pay the appropriate fare. You mentioned hoping on MAX without purchasing a ticket, and were then nailed when a fare inspector came along. Was that the last train of the day? If so, I’ll cut you some slack. If not, there’s almost always another train coming in about 15 minutes or so – if you would have been late, well then, maybe you should have started out earlier. It’s been my experience that those who usually are ticketed are chronic offenders – not the true first time user. It’s also been my experience that true first time offenders can be easily detected by their explanations to the fare inspectors and are given warnings. However, if you live in Portland, and even occasionally stick your head out of your front door, you should know that you are expected to pay. I do however, agree that the transfer time ought to be increased to 3 hours.
Costs keep rising for everyone, including Tri-Met. They’ve been “flexible and compassionate” for the last several years, and it’s my observation as a daily rider that the rate of those riding without paying continues to grow, not decrease as they are “educated.” Bus drivers have riders refusing to pay, spitting on them, barging past riders who are paying —– I have little to no sympathy for them. Call me cold, call me callous, whatever. I also always carry a booklet of Tri-Met tickets, and if I see someone who truly seems to be in distress because they don’t have the correct fare, I’ll toss one of my tickets into the mix.
But, for those who abuse the system by riding without paying ——- sorry. No tears shed here.
But typical parking tickets are $34 for overtime parking and $60 for exceeding two hours in a permitted area. Are transit freeloaders so much more heinous than parking “squatters” that they need to pay $175?
The difference is that parking on a street is not a service – the parking fees downtown are specifically a revenue scheme to cover various downtown improvements (the Streetcar gets much of its revenue from parking revenues – NOT rider revenues.) There is no service cost incurred by the City of Portland when you park on a street – the street’s already there; it’s going to be maintained no matter what thanks to gas tax revenues. And you don’t even pay to park everywhere, just in specific parking districts.
TriMet is a service which has a direct operating cost. Ride without paying and it is “theft of services” – not unlike stealing cable TV or telephone service.
As a daily TriMet rider who pays his fare each day I don’t feel the need to be hit with service cuts, poor service, and old, unreliable buses while subsidizing someone else’s trip. It’s bad enough that MAX riders get “free” rides downtown and motorists get to park for “free” at various TriMet owned and operated parking lots. We all share the ride – we should all pay for the ride. If you can’t afford it, find another way. If you’re truly in need there are service agencies that have obtained TriMet tickets and I’m sure they’ll give you an appropriate amount for necessary trips. TriMet is not a homeless shelter nor is it a “hangout”.
A couple of months ago I was running late for work. I had seven 2 hour tickets that I could validate prior to getting on the MAX. I got to the stop and thought “awesome the train is almost here.” I tried to validate my ticket but the validator did not work. Knowing that the next train would take 15 minutes to arrive I did not want run across the street and try the validator at the stop going the other way. I took my chances with the hope that the train would stop long enough for me to validate at the next stop. At the next stop a fare inspector came on. I thought “great I can get him to validate this.”
I tried to explain and have him sign the ticket or something and also make a note of the broken validator. Instead he made me get off the train with him while he wrote me a ticket. I probably could have gotten away with not paying if I just played it cool, but instead I got a ticket because I was trying to pay, and I still ended up late for work.
I went to court a month later and found out the first trial would not be available for three months. They gave us in the Tri-Met line 3 options, pay 50 dollars, do Community service, or go to trial. I took CS because I didn’t want to give anymore money to tri-met(found out later they don’t get any of the fines now). It wasn’t horrible but I will not ride tri-met because it is just not worth it. I can’t rely on the machines working so I would have to plan to arrive early. Since it costs 4.80 to go downtown on tri-met and only 5.50 to park plus gas. The extra cost is worth not dealing with the hassel. Tri-met lost my business because they spend time busting people who have trouble with machines rather then the freeloaders who they know can’t pay.
Just the other day i recieved a 175$ citation for having a monthly pass that was one day out of date. Living month to month, i don’t have the flexibility to buy passes in advance, and have to use my paycheck on the 1st to buy one. I had been ill the day of the first, so on the second i was going to pick up my check and get my pass. I still had the previous six months worth of previous month passes. Trimet riding costs me more than $267 this month, and i may end up with a warrant for being unable to pay the fine on top of regular costs. For this kind of money, i could just go get a car.
If you ride, you should pay – if your car runs out of gas, you walk. I pay every month – no excuses here. Tri-met is not a charity organization. They are strapped enough as it is – a business will cease to be in business if they do not receive the revenue to which they are entitled. Does 7-Eleven give you a free gallon of milk if you don’t have $$$? How about free cab fare? Come on people, get a life – interestingly enough the biggest scofflaws seem to be the ones with their feet and bags on the seats taking up space that us folks that pay for the priviledge to ride. Quit whining and looking for free handouts. If you got caught because you don’t have a ticket, you deserve the fine. And for those that whine about the validators not working, I have heard many people use that excuse for the very validator that worked for me on the same trip.
I will not ride trim-met if at all possible. It smells like urine and homeless people. The trains interior are not clean. The other day from the airport, 3 street kids got on with their pit bull at the Rose quarter and were dropping F-bombs left and right, behaving loudly, and obnoxiously. No doubt they paid nothing to get on the train. It represented our city so poorly, and in a decent area of town. That people who use Max for travel from airport are often from out of town, or visiting – if I was a visitor to Portland, I would never take that airport train again. No way. Tri-met needs to step up its security staff check everyone’s ticket routinely, not just here and there.
My first time visiting Portland, I rode Tri-met. A “helpful” stranger told me the bus was free. However, turns out it is only free is a small radius called Fareless Square. Once I traveled out side of it, I was asked to show a ticket I did not have, and then given a huge fine. My trip to Portland was ruined and I have never thought of the city in a fond light since.