MAX fare internal enforcement fail
As I was boarding a #20 last night after work, an individual was boarding behind me. I overheard that this individual “lost” his bus fare receipt and that he “needed to get to Gresham.”
What did the bus operator say? “Sorry, no fare, no ride”?
Nope! The bus operator said, “Well, go take the MAX - that’ll take you to Gresham. It’s over that way.”
Maybe I’m jumping to a conclusion… but was the bus operator in fact suggesting that the individual could ride the MAX without purchasing fare to get to Gresham with that statement? It seems like it to me.
The ease of fare evasion is one of the MAX’s greatest faults. It’s an ongoing problem. It’s costing TriMet many thousands (millions?) of dollars. If you have bus operators who work for your company suggesting that someone should take the MAX if they’ve “lost” their fare, you know that this is a huge problem.
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Comments
Maybe the person only had a credit card, and the driver referred him to the MAX to use one of the machines that never works anyway…
It’s frustrating. Over and over again Tri-Met has said they will tighten fare enforcement but have not done so. I ride the blue line out towards Gresham. I just recently had my fare checked for the first time in six or seven months.
To some extent the system was broken from the start. Even if they did frequent fare inspections, it’s an intrusive experience to be confronted and made to prove your legitimacy regularly when you’ve done nothing wrong. The bus avoids the interrogation mentality, but the MAX would need many doormen to achieve the same approach, which is unlikely. Maybe stations should have controlled access with one or two people checking tickets to get in.
Another thing to keep in mind is that even though it’s a hard problem, the current approach does work reasonably well. I’ve witnessed many fare inspection sweeps, and usually it’s only one or two people per train, sometimes zero. And while in a perfect world, it’d always be zero, that doesn’t mean that those people would pay. They might just find another way to get around. I really don’t think that this is burning a gigantic hole in Trimet’s pocket.
Steve - I don’t want to (yet again!) jump to any conclusions, but this guy didn’t really seem like the credit card-carrying type.
I have to disagree with you Nick as the estimates of people not paying fare on Max frequently run as high as 15-20 percent. When you figure the cost per ticket, number of rides per day and the number of people evading fare it certainly seems like a huge hole in Tri-Met’s pocket.
I’ll go with that first comment. Probably just wanted the guy off the bus.
But I digress. The system is broken, and if they want people to pay fare that ride the MAX they need to have turnstiles like any respectable transit system has.
In addition, last I heard the fare evasion (according to the optimistic estimates of city officials) was between 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 per year. Which is more than enough to halve the current frequency cancellations and decreases in service we’ll be getting later in the year.
So in addition to people blaming the bad economy and TriMet, they could also blame the bastards who don’t pay their fares.
Christian:
It’s a combination of most of the comments above. (Without being there) but my guess is the driver wanted the guy off his bus because he didn’t want to deal with the guy not having a fare, and there are more fare inspections on MAX.
Some Bus Operators have no issue “confronting” pax about a fare (or lack of it), others don’t and rightfully so, because they are fare informers, not fare enforcers.
MAX inspectors and/or Transit Police can nip the “problem child” in the bud right away while they are out enforcing. Bus Operators have to pick and choose their battles, because if someone gets hostile, you have to call for help to arrive; with Transit Police/Inspectors, it’s already there.
That’s not to say that anyone riding a bus automatically gets a free pass to do as they please…but you don’t want some wack job going postal on you or on another passenger over a fare dispute. I personally judge each sitaution..if the person presents their case in an honest, no b.s. and up front manner-I’ll consider it. If not, most of the time I can (and do) take progressive measures to discourage it.
For the record, I have seen enforcement stepped up. It’s not everyday, every hour..but it IS increasing. They also just put 15 new supervisors (7 bus & 8 rail I think) into training, with most of them having their primary focus on “riding the system” (be it on the MAX or Bus or in high evasion areas) after they graduate (I think it’s 2-3 weeks of class and a month OJT with a senior supervisor). TriMet is like any other government agency…nothing happens overnight. While I’m not defending OR defeating them, they are putting these changes in place, it’s just not happening as fast as some would like to see it.
It is not the job of a TriMet Operator to pound somebody on fares, just like it isn’t their job to get into the middle of a fight. They are NOT law enforcement. They ARE supposed to try and enforce TriMet rules & code where, again, it WILL NOT jeopardize the safety/security of the passengers or the operator..they are not armed and have to wait for the cops like everyone else. Think about it for a minute: If they get too far involved, now they have put the ENTIRE Bus/Train in jeopardy, not just you. That’s not to say they won’t help you..I’m not saying that. I would do everything I can do WHILE MAINTAINING the safest possible environment for ALL.
I won’t let you get away with just anything you want…but I am going to pick my battles, because I know then where the support from my superiors will come from, if you get my meaning.
Well, this week there have been about 10-20 people who board the max to check for fares. Somewhere around 60th or 42nd, I think.
Fare Inspectors in training? One guy was a Road Operator, the rest looked like MAX operators, and four of them were the familiar faces of fare inspectors that I see on a regular basis.
Rrider:
“Fare Inspectors in training? One guy was a Road Operator, the rest looked like MAX operators, and four of them were the familiar faces of fare inspectors that I see on a regular basis.”
True. They do not get their “white shirts” as supervisors or fare inspectors until they are completely out of training and on their own and thus, are still in the uniforms of their old occupation until they fully complete training. The fare inspectors/supervisors you saw out there that you see everyday were the ones “training” and supervising them. They are there to provide guidance and step in if needed.
Proof of Payment fare systems are very, very common among “respectable” transit systems. Vancouver, BC’s TransLink just did a study about adding turnstiles to their SkyTrain system, and found that the added cost of installation would have negated the increased revenue from stopping fare evasion. Similar findings have been produced by CalTrain (San Francisco) and Metrolink (southern California) commuter rail systems. LA County Metro is a proof-of-payment system, though they are installing turnstiles as a part of their new smart card effort. The new Central Link light rail in Seattle is also proof-of-payment.
In most cases, turnstiles don’t make sense from the standpoint of capital or labor costs. That means you then have to have an agent at each station, turnstiles at each station, people to fix the turnstiles when they break, etc. etc. It’s easier and cheaper just to let the few folks who don’t pay by.
The driver just wanted the dude off his bus, I think.