MBTA proposal to slow fare evasion

From today's Globe:

A legislative committee will hear testimony today on a bill aimed at reducing fare evasion on the MBTA. The bill would allow T employees to cite violators, who would be subject to increasing civil fines. Senator Steven A. Baddour's bill would make the offense a civil infraction, with fines ranging from $15 to $250, based on the number of times a person was cited for not paying the fare. The bill would also allow T employees to stop and charge fare evaders, a job only MBTA Transit police can currently perform. MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas , who supports the bill, said it would bolster enforcement as automated fare collection reaches the Green Line, where open-air stations increase the possibility of fare evasion, and on the commuter rail.

Good to see some kind of news on what the fines will be. Were there any prior laws regarding fines for fare evasion?

By comparison, when I was in Germany last year, most Deutsche Bahn and public transit penalties for "Schwarzfahren" (riding without valid pass or ticket) were 40 Euros, though there's some amount of forgiveness if you left your pass at home. It's pretty much the honors system, where you buy a ticket and activate it, so there are no faregates at subway stations or fareboxes onboard trams and buses, just the occasional ticket inspection onboard or on the platform. Some cities have more frequent inspections than others. In Berlin you might be asked four times in a day for your ticket, while in Munich you could even go a whole month without an inspection.

In a system with fare collection, however, knowing that the range of fines can be anywhere from $15 to $250 should be a reasonable deterrent, as long as there is a presence of employees at every station.

The question is enforcement. At present it is the duties of the Transit Police, so the power to cite would be extended to the Customer Service Agent, and does that become an issue with the Carmen’s Union? I have found the CSA’s to lean two ways, making themselves seen and helpful at the gate or the vending machines or hiding in their booth. So even with the power will they step in?

I am usually at Wellington between 6 to 630-ish in the morning and the woman who use to be the collector is out there helping the people but at 730-ish she looks ragged, between vending machine and gate issues, but she tries. Now on the homebound run at Ruggles between 3 to 5 PM before AFC fare jumping galore, even with the Transit Police standing there. At a meeting I went to involving the Transit Police, a few months ago, fare jumping is a not priority issue by them. Now that AFC is in at Ruggles I still see jumping, who is going to stop the local youths form doubling up. If it wasn’t an issue for the Transit Police why should it be for the CSA.

So in the long run CSA or who ever my have the power it will be their choice to enforce or not.

I am probably already in trouble for two on a pass, in electronic terms, because if there is a gap between me and my briefcase, bell and fare jump. Dually logged in the electronic data world.

JoeD

dieciduej wrote:The question is enforcement. At present it is the duties of the Transit Police, so the power to cite would be extended to the Customer Service Agent, and does that become an issue with the Carmen’s Union? I have found the CSA’s to lean two ways, making themselves seen and helpful at the gate or the vending machines or hiding in their booth. So even with the power will they step in?

I am usually at Wellington between 6 to 630-ish in the morning and the woman who use to be the collector is out there helping the people but at 730-ish she looks ragged, between vending machine and gate issues, but she tries. Now on the homebound run at Ruggles between 3 to 5 PM before AFC fare jumping galore, even with the Transit Police standing there. At a meeting I went to involving the Transit Police, a few months ago, fare jumping is a not priority issue by them. Now that AFC is in at Ruggles I still see jumping, who is going to stop the local youths form doubling up. If it wasn’t an issue for the Transit Police why should it be for the CSA.

So in the long run CSA or who ever my have the power it will be their choice to enforce or not.

I am probably already in trouble for two on a pass, in electronic terms, because if there is a gap between me and my briefcase, bell and fare jump. Dually logged in the electronic data world.

JoeD

Having a new law will address one problem, which is there are no specific penalties for fare evasion right now. My understanding is that the police can cite people for tresspass, but not for the fare evasion itself.

This should make enforcement easier by providing a law that fits the crime, but as you point out, it's up to the MBTA and transit police to actually enforce the law. That Mr. Grabauskas is pushing this law is hopefully indicative of this being an MBTA priority.

AFC also makes it easier to see who is violating, whereas a skilled turnstyle evader can be difficult to detect even from a few feet away.

Imagine trying to enforce parking regulations, if there were no fines associated with a violation.

You can't have roving inspectors on the train here, like in Germany, because there is no requirement to still have a ticket or card on you after you enter.

Ron Newman wrote:You can't have roving inspectors on the train here, like in Germany, because there is no requirement to still have a ticket or card on you after you enter.

That could only be done with proof-of-payment ("POP") fare collection, which would only work on the Green Line surface section and Mattapan.

Point taken. At least for the moment it isn't possible, but I imagine a requirement to keep the used ticket could be made only after the AFC transition is 100% complete and everybody enters with a ticket or card. Everything I say here forward is theoretical.

The pitfall there is that people entering at street level (bus, green, or silver lines) who pay with the exact fare get no ticket. Printing a ticket with zero remaining value for these exact change riders might work, but it just gets complicated from there.

There's also the issue of tickets only being stamped with the date and time of their printing, and not of their usage.

This wouldn't be a push for an exit or metered fare like in DC.

Children or guests riding accompanied for free would be exempted from carrying a ticket.

Inspections onboard or on the platform would only be supplemental, and therefore rare. Just an occasional round of inspections, not necessarily every day or even every week.

Fines for not keeping your ticket would have to be relatively small. Passengers who have paid the fare but made the mistake of losing a ticket shouldn't be punished by paying more than the fare itself.

I know the possibility of implementing a system as I've imagined seems unlikely, but it's one way to fight both fare evasion and litter.

Under the current system, enforcement will have to take place at the station entrance (e.g., at the fare gates). I can't see how enforcement elsewhere is feasible, unless the MBTA changes to a POP system.

Anything to stop fair evaders!

Also, I bet that in Germany, the tickets are paper and visibly show their value and where they were last validated. Not true for a CharlieTicket or a CharlieCard.

Ron Newman wrote:Also, I bet that in Germany, the tickets are paper and visibly show their value and where they were last validated. Not true for a CharlieTicket or a CharlieCard.

The data stored in the magnetic strip on CharlieTickets and the chip on the CharlieCard shows the last time/date and location it was used. This can be read by a handheld reader (similar to what is planned for the MBCR) even though it isn't printed on the ticket each time it is used.

I haven't seen the RFID based CharlieCards yet aside from the front of a Senior ID. Probably no visual evidence of stored value.

CharlieTickets are always printed with the initial cash value, as well as payment method, location, date and time of purchase. Adding stored value swallows the old card and prints a new one.

On Munich's MVV, most tickets are either single ride or time based.
Declining value only exists in the form of stripe cards, which use a time stamp. There's no reprinted value, only a physical representation of unused stripes, whereas the MBTA has no visible evidence of declining value without the help of a machine.

While I'm no fan of exit fares, the WMATA got it right about printing it every time. And I know very well that I'm comparing apples to oranges, and possibly even grapes.

Since you don't even insert a CharlieCard into the gate, you just tap it against the gate, there's no way that it could visibly show its value.

There is also an increased danger of assaults on inspectors while enforcing POP ticketing.

Anyone else see a grievance being filed by the T Police Union when employees other than the T Police hand out tickets on their turf?

Didn't the T go through this a few years back with Inspectors having the authority to hand out citations.