are fares checked on the Metro Hiawatha Light rail? (cost, mall)

[Beenhere4ever]

Totally agree with GoTo card. Not sure why everyone doesn't have one. But remember to swipe it. Takes a second if you're running to the train, faster than trying to buy ticket on the run.

[QuietBlue]

I rode the train to and from work for several years, and I'd say my ticket was checked 2-3 times a week on average. It seemed like they were a bit less likely to check during rush hour, compared to when I rode at other times (i.e. if I was riding outside of rush hour, I got checked almost every time). That could just be my experience, though.

The GoTo cards are great. My last downtown employer subsidized mine, which made it even better.

[emcee squared]

They do check and make a BIG deal out of it if you do not have a ticket. I'd say the Transit Police roll through on about 20% of my rides.

[xandrex]

I ride fairly infrequently since I don't live in that area of Minneapolis. Mostly only use it for occasional MOA trips (typically I just use my car) or the airport. But I've been checked several times. Once when I just had a normal ticket, once with my U-Pass they just looked at it and moved on, another time the guy checked it with his scanner thing. I've heard they make checks every day and find about 99% compliance or something like that.

[Beenhere4ever]

The "scanner thing" is actually a cell phone. They seem to have an app that reads the bar code on GoTo cards and either checks their mainframe or maybe detects the swipe. Or maybe it does nothing and they are just bluffing. If so it works because I won't get on a train without swiping the card.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

The "scanner thing" is actually a cell phone. They seem to have an app that reads the bar code on GoTo cards and either checks their mainframe or maybe detects the swipe. Or maybe it does nothing and they are just bluffing. If so it works because I won't get on a train without swiping the card.

No, it definitely does something, because the couple times I was scanned when I forgot to swipe, I could feel the reader vibrate and it usually doesn't. There are differences in the readers, because I heard a conductor telling the cops one time that their scanners work much faster than his.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

The "scanner thing" is actually a cell phone. They seem to have an app that reads the bar code on GoTo cards and either checks their mainframe or maybe detects the swipe. Or maybe it does nothing and they are just bluffing. If so it works because I won't get on a train without swiping the card.

It looked like a phone, but I wasn't sure if it was a glorified reader that looked like one. No doubt it has an RFID reader (or whatever chip inside the card) as faking it with a phone would just look dumb.

[Thegonagle]

If you read the comments on the Star Tribune website, you'd think they never check and compliance is 10% at best.

But those kind of comments come from the same people who deride the "choo-choo train" as "failed social engineering boondoggle" that doesn't pay for itself (unlike several thousand lane-miles of freeways and highways in the area, which obviously turn a profit every day).

Glad to see real comments here from people who actually use the train.

[Beenhere4ever]

I don't know where anyone who avoids the train could have any reliable information at all. Some people just don't want to leave the comfort of their cave.

[josjr69]

I ride Metro Transit light rail at lot ... several times a day ... I get checked quite frequently ... once or twice a week ... and I have seen plenty of people pulled off of the trains and ticketed ... Statistically I think it's not unusual for an infrequent rider to slip by without a spot check and think there is no validating going on ... but it happens continuously ... just not on the same train all of the time ...