Thursday, November 29, 2007

fare evasion by jeff rose and al margul

Did I ever tell you the story of this one guy who used to get on at
15th and Alberta?

Well this guy WOULD ZOOM RIGHT PAST ME! No look, no transfer, no
nothing, JUST ZOOOOOM! He's gone to the back of the bus.

Y'all know my philosophy on this matter, WHO CARES, I sure as hell don't.

It went on day after day, same thing, ZOOOM, right on by me.

Finally, after a couple of weeks of this, I FINALLY GOT UP OUT OF MY
SEAT, WENT TO THE BACK OF THE BUS, AND ASKED THE GUY:

"do you have a transfer or something"

He said: "isnt this fare less square" {this is not a fabrication)

I started laughing, of course its not.

The guy went directly out the back door and I never saw him again.

TRUE STORY!

`````````````````````````````
--- In trimetoperators@yahoogroups.com, "Jeffrey Rose"
wrote:
>
> Since my "what would you do" post isn't getting the play I hoped it
would (there the hell is
> everyone?!!) I'll just get to the point. I was thinking about how
it is usually the riders that
> evade fares that end up being the most trouble on the bus (and, one
would have to
> assume on the lightrail as well)- we should change the way we deal
with fare evaders
> WITHOUT increasing the risk to operators. How to do this? There
are a number of things
> that ought to perhaps change.
>
> There are more than one kind of fare evader- perhaps the least of
anyone's worry would
> be the ones who get on in fareless square and hide in the back of
the bus hoping the
> driver won't notice. They are quiet because they are trying to
avoid detection. If operators
> even notice them, the usual response from an operator is simply to
punch the fare evasion
> outmessage and that's it- eventually there will be a fare inspection
and eventually, you
> would think, this person's going to get ticketed.... maybe.
>
> Another kind of fare evader is the type that I mentioned that says
things like "you don't
> need to see my ticket MF'er" and whatnot. Another might get in your
face when you ask
> for a second look when they flash their transfer by you and .....
well- this is more than
> just a simple fare evasion. I think it deserves another outmessage
that could be perhaps
> called "aggressive fare avoidance" or something like that. It
should also prompt a different
> response. Fare evasions sent in are simply counted and compiled- a
potential "AGA"
> message should result in any fare inspection units in the area to
intercept your bus, and if
> there isn't one available should direct the transit police or
regular police to your bus to
> remove and cite the individual for both evading the fare, AND for-
what would it be,
> menacing? Whatever.
>
> As soon as a passenger either refuses to present a fare to an
operator when asked, or
> refers to them as "MF'er" or SOB or whatever- that person should be
IMMEDIATELY
> removed from the system. How it should be played out is this:
>
> The operator POLITELY asks passenger to show their fare. Passenger
refuses and says
> something like "I already showed you, you dumb SOB- screw you!"
Operator says "OK"!!
> Passenger sits down and perhaps (this is my experience) starts
cussing up a storm in the
> back of the bus. Operator presses FARE- AGA into the BDS. A mile
down the road the
> police pulls over the bus. Officer gets on, operator explains what
happened, passenger
> gets yanked off bus, gets put into police car and the operator gives
a little speech to the
> remaining passengers explaining why the individual got yanked and
hands out courtesy
> cards.
>
> What gets learned? Menace the busdriver and you AREN'T going to
have a good laugh
> about it, and you AREN'T making to where you THINK you're going.
You AREN'T going to
> have a good night. When you get on a bus, you show your fare so
that the operator can
> read it and if he or she asks you to see it again- you smile, nod
and show it again. Call
> the operator MF'er, or try to intimidate them in any way- you're
going to get yanked more
> often than not!
>
> What would this means for the remaining 99% of the riders? A
system where THEY aren't
> menaced by these people either. It gives the operator much more
control over their bus
> without placing them in harms way, and makes the system far more
comfortable for the
> 99% to ride who will also feel much safer and they WILL be much
safer. Of the 1% that are
> the trouble, a few will get yanked off and the others will quickly
learn- cause trouble on
> Trimet and it'll come back on ME!!!
>
> Jeff

1 comment:

Adron said...

I just read this entry and though... wow. Fare evasion does piss off some of the drivers.

I'm just a "customer" and "tax payer" that uses the TriMet System. When I see some worthless idiot telling a bus driver off, fare evading, or doing or complaining about the ticket price I remind them (yes, verbally).

1. You need to shutup, you're disrespecting me. I'm in the income bracket that gets slammed with the other 80% of the fare via my taxes to cover your mooch ass. So shutup.
2. Don't disrespect the drivers. They're driving you somewhere for WAY below market price. If you can't afford get off the bus/LRV/Streetcar.
3. If they're being rude or discourteous I simple state, "respect", settle down. It works so far 100% of the time.

I don't like people being disrespectful like that, it isn't just bad for the drivers, it is bad for EVERYONE.

For the new riders that get intimidated.
For the regular riders that are tired of the mess.
For people like me, that would like to see regular and simple respect among people.