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I am interested in knowing from people that ride light rail in the few cities in the country that have them. How fares are collected or verified? Here in Portland there has been light rail since 1986. The system has been continuously extended as it is being done presently. However there has never been anything done that guarantees a fare has been paid. It is obvious to anyone that rides these trains for any length of time, that many are not paying for a ticket. The checking by fare inspectors is rarely ever done, and when it is done, it is in the most poorest sections of the region. I think that in itself is not right. My feeling is every rail system should be forced to have a system in place that collects fares. If it does not have a system in place, it should not not be allowed to raise fares. How does your city verify payment has been made on its trains? Does it have a system in place that guarantees everyone has paid? It was determined here in Portland that the transit company is allowing itself to lose thousands of dollars per day in lost revenue. I guess that is how subsidized systems such as the light rail here stay in business.
Some people will almost always find ways to cheat the system, whatever the system may be. If you have ticket validation, some people will just hope they don't get caught by inspectors. If you have turnstiles, some people will just hop over the turnstiles. You could have officials on-board to validate tix like some systems in Europe, but is the cost of those wages more or less than what you lose from fare-skippers?
All three light rail systems in New Jersey operate using pre-boarding ticket validation (or monthly passes) and patrols by on-board inspection agents. I've only once seen someone pulled off the train because they didn't have a valid ticket.
San Diego uses an honor system like most light rail systems in the US. The fare evasion rate is fairly low though and I've seen them ticket plenty of people and even arrest some when they discover the person has a warrant.
A recent fare evasion study for the LA MTA on their rail system showed the fare evasion rates varied greatly by line, the Green Line had by far the highest at around 10% while the rest were less than 3% generally. They also use the honor system but are changing to turnstiles on a few lines.
Good comments and information. I think the rate of non payment can vary, especially in what regions these light rail lines serve. All in all I am glad we have Light Rail here in Portland, but I dont' feel the honor system is appropriate or fair, at least in this town. Our rate of non payment is extremely high and several times this year has made the news. The news channels here did investigations on the non payment as well as safety concerns on the systems. It was found as many as 4 out of 10 people were not paying fares daily. Yes it irks me since I am retired and live on a pension and pay the 3 to 4 times a week I must ride this train. I just want the systems to be fair to everyone everwhere.
I use the Denver one all the time. and i would say like 1 out of every 15 rides, there was someone checking the tickets. I did see someone got in trouble for not having a ticket. And on some special occasions (Football game, baseball game, etc), they have lots of people checking the tickets, not in the trains, but after boarding.
Salt Lake City's light rail is the same. Plenty of times you won't see a transit cop checking tickets but I rarely see someone evade the fare. The fine is $75 if you're caught.
I ride Minneapolis's from time to time. I've seen transit police check for fares maybe 40-50% of the times I've ridden. Only saw them bust one person, a well-dressed middle aged woman with a little black suitcase, appeared to be an airline stewardess.
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