Pittsburgh: Port Authority Says it Won't Use Racial Profiling when T System Goes Cashless

[brooklynite]

Mass Transit:

Feb. 25--Although it's still putting together its enforcement policy for when the light-rail system goes cashless in July, Port Authority said Friday it does not intend to use racial profiling or other methods to identify illegal immigrants.

The authority explained its plans after a handful of riders expressed concerns at the agency's monthly board meeting that it would use fare checks to identify people with improper immigration papers.

The authority expects to switch to a pre-paid system on the T in July, where riders will be on the honor system for paying their fare. To encourage payment, the authority will assign its police officers to conduct random checks on T cars and issue citations to those who can't prove they paid with a pre-paid ConnectCard or a receipt for an individual fare.

Christina Castillo of the South Hills said she is "concerned" that fare checks also will serve as immigration checks. Chandana Cherukupalli of Pittsburghers for Public Transit said other transit systems across the country have used racial profiling when picking which riders to check for payment.

[yeoman6987]

1. Prepaid honor system? I think this is going to be a disaster

Mainly because no matter what, random checks will not be done fairly.

[brooklynite]

2. Generally, systems like this inspect everyone on the car...

...rather than randomly select people.

[yeoman6987]

3. Oh that's better. At least everyone will be checked and not just those they choose

[Retrograde]

10. Caltrain does this on its SF Peninsula trains

About 1 time in 4 they'll inspect everyone: most of the time they'll tell riders without a ticket to get off at the next stop and buy one, although I have seen them write tickets on occasion.

Muni, the San Francisco system, supposedly does spot checks but I haven't seen them in a couple of years.

[MineralMan]

4. I've not yet seen a public transit system compare the money lost

to free riders and the cost of determining who paid and who didn't. We have a similar problem here in the Minneapolis St. Paul are with our light rail system. Some people, unbelievably, get on the trains without paying. Who would have imagined? So, the Transit Police sometimes, but only sometimes, check for tickets or passes on those trains. From time to time, they find someone who hasn't paid their fare. What happens next is often an arrest, complete with squad cars and all that falderol.

So, finally, last year, they published something about what percentage of riders were using the system without paying. It was rather small, actually. But, they did not compare the lost funds from free riders to the cost of figuring out how many free riders there are and how much it costs to enforce paying for rides.

I suspect the enforcement costs are far higher than the losses, based on their percentage numbers, but who knows how they determined those numbers, either.

The bottom line is that, unless they put conductors on those trains and check everyone's tickets or passes, people are going to hop on the train and ride without paying their fare. The cost of running the train doesn't change, and only a small percentage will freeload their trips.

I'm not seeing how increased enforcement, with its higher costs, is going to pay off in any way, frankly. And it's sure to lead to selective enforcement (profiling), since the freeloaders are likely to be people who can't afford to pay, and might look as if they can't.

I say, "Let the people ride the damned train! It's mostly empty most of the time anyhow."

[brooklynite]

6. As a rule, dealing with fare-evaders involves a civil penalty or expensive "on-board" fare...

...rather than a criminal charge.

If your argument is that transit should be free for everyone, that's a separate issue (from a professional standpoint, a nominal charge for all users results in the most efficient use of the system); however, nobody has ever developed an effective means for paying for universal free transportation. If there is a fare, it's problematic to let some passengers get away with not paying, even if there's available capacity.

[MineralMan]

7. No, keep charging the fares. The 10% or less who don't pay?

Who cares? In the Twin Cities, the metro police department has 50 cops. Plus supervisors and whatever other costs. I'm going to go see what that costs each year. I suspect it's not worth the bother and expense, really.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. Yeah.... Riiiiiight!

[DeminPennswoods]

8. The T is already free in downtown Pgh

The only charges are for rides to the North and South Sides. I don't know about the South Side, but on the North Side, the T stop is right near the Clemente Bridge that many pedestrians use to walk to downtown.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

9. If you have a Medicare card you ride free all over town,

paid for by the lottery.