Guess you don't need a CharlieCard anymore
By adamg - 5/24/08 - 8:50 am
Globe: T police stop citing riders who evade fares.
Oh, those wacky disgruntled MBTA police! TJIC notes the article presents two rationalizations for not going after fare evaders: It's too mundane and it's too dangerous. The danger of mundanity? Sounds like some officers are upset they don't get to dress up like RoboCop and play with those big guns. Or as TJIC asks:
Question to cops: what do you think your job actually is?
The Outraged Liberal actually says something nice about T General Manager Dan Grabauskas, who actually wants the police to do their job.
Comments
Excuses, excuses
I just got back from Los Angeles where the plainclothes and uniformed deputy sheriffs seem to have no problem routinely checking people for tickets. It seems that they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for excuses.
IMO, it's a really DUMB idea to
To be using plainclothes officers to tag fare evaders in the first place. But it seems the MBTA Police are much more interested in catching criminals than trying to deter the crimes in the first place.
If you replace the CSAs with uniformed officers, and make fare evasion a simple felony offense (I understand it's that way in NYC), I'll bet fare evasion (at least at the subway stations) will drop to next to nothing overnight. And the T can make some extra cash by selling off all those cruisers and motorcycles that will become unnecessary.
Simple felony offense?
Um, isn't making it a felony rather excessive? My goodness, a year plus in jail for fare evasion? A misdemeanor with a heavy fine is quite sufficient.
But...
Fare evasion is stealing from the government. It's supposed to be the other way around.
What a load
How about just moving the T cops onto the trains or inside on the platforms themselves? Between the CharlieCards and CharlieTickets, theoretically every person has a proof of purchase. By targeting those people who don't/can't produce a POP then you cite them. Make it a full on PR campaign that a POP is necessary, and a fine will result otherwise.
For the most part it works here in SF and I've seen it work in Paris. And those Metro fare inspectors are ruthless!
CharlieTickets
Not quite: When I forget my CharlieCard and buy a CharlieTicket, I look for one of the bags the T conveniently places just inside the fare gates so I can get rid of it when I'm done with it. So on my ride home, I won't have any proof that I paid my fare.
proof o' payment
But on systems with POP, there are signs all over the place saying to keep your ticket or printout or whatever on your person until you exit the system, because you may be asked to show it.
also in london you must keep
also in london you must keep your ticket or oyster card until you exit. the fee you get charged depends on the stop you get off (they have zones) so you have to scan on entry and exit. i think it just makes more sense and you don't even really need POP officers
Multiple people can ride on one card or ticket, then split up
If I have a stored-value CharlieCard or CharlieTicket, I can pay for multiple riders with it, by all of us just handing it back to the next person in line. Let's say that I get on the Red Line at Davis Square with Alan, Barbara, Carl, Debby, Edward, and Loretta. I pay for all of them, and get off the train at Kendall Square.
Alan stays on until Ashmont, while the rest of the riders transfer to the Green Line at Park Street. Barbara takes a B train to BU, Carl a C train to Coolidge Corner, Debby a D train to Newton Centre, and Edward an E train to Mission Hill. Loretta goes to the other platform and takes a Lechmere train to the Galleria Mall.
None of them will have any proof of payment.
then maybe your lazy ass friends...
...should realize that it's been a year and a half since Charliecards came out, and get off their lazy asses and buy one for themselves.
what if they are in town
what if they are in town visiting and dont have one. or its the one time they forgot it and dont want to pay the 30 cent surcharge.
also, what stopping me from having a charlie card, never paying to get in and just using the charlie card as pop?
and why would you deal with
and why would you deal with 5x the hassle for getting everyone in the group a CharlieCard or Ticket when you don't actually need to?
I sure wouldn't.
I'd forgotten about those
I'd forgotten about those bags. I've always had either a T pass or CharlieCard so I'd always be able to produce a POP. I am shaking my head now, thinking that the whole POP bit could have been implemented as part of going to the ticket system. How much more of an effort would that have been at the time? You already have the ticket/Card in your hand, so instead of trashing it in the bags or more likely, on the ground to be trampled on, you stick it back in your pocket as your POP?
The buses here use little paper transfers as a POP. You pay the cash fare with the driver, he/she gives you a paper POP that's good for 90 minutes for travel in any direction. You have no choice but to enter at the front door of a bus because the back door is only released upon pressure inside by a person exiting. If you transfer to a streetcar, you can board at any door. If you transfer to the subway you show your POP to the attendant in the booth and they release a turnstile for you.
But evaders still have so many opportunities here as the streetcars travel greater distances before going underground. While I've seen quite a few inspectors on the streetcars, there are mornings on inbound trains when there are no inspectors. The odds are with the evader that they can get on with no hassles.
Don't forget as well that in
Don't forget as well that in many cases the T doesn't even attempt to collect fares, which could leave someone in a spot if you were (for some odd reason) asked for POP later.
I have often been waved onto the trolley during rush hour because the fare collector is in a rush to board people, otherwise occupied, lazy, or has broken fare collection equipment.
Useless
Sounds like they need some Internal Affairs cops down there to start cracking down on cops ignoring minor offenses.
Enough of those kinds of marks on a cop's record and he can kiss his job goodbye.
It also sounds like it's time to make sure there's an exception clause for batons on plain-clothes detail and having plain-clothes and uniformed pairings where the uniform sits in the nearby booth and waits for the call to spring the trap.
...or they can cry like little children and continue to harass photographers and shine their MP5s. Whatever works for them.
Police aren't faretakers
I'm with the skips on this one. Relatively well-off people get monthly cards from their jobs. Occasional users or less-well-off users pay a premium. And it's ludicrously easy to cheat. Strong incentive, little effort - do the math. Jerks though T police may be, it must be hard on the psyche to constantly point out to those less able to pay that they didn't pay.
I get my CharlieCard via the
I get my CharlieCard via the corporate pass program and I would hardly consider myself "well-off". The cost of a monthly pass is noticeable in my budget.
It's not the job of the T police to interpret the fare evasion laws, it's their job to enforce it objectively. Therefore, if someone is evading, it is their job and duty to cite them. End of story.
That Globe piece mentions
That Globe piece mentions something about stopping people from smoking on the platforms/in MBTA areas.
What stops are they doing that at so I can start using them? People smoke all over the T and no one ever stops them. Ever.
SERIOUSLY
I was at...Park Street, I think, and there was a guy smoking on the platform in front of a knot of three or four T cops, none of whom batted an eye, much less said anything.
Too dangerous
You can't expect T cops to just wade into a cloud of smoke, now can you?
I was on the red line
I was on the red line outbound one evening when around Andrew a guy lit up a freakin cigar on a packed train. People smelled it and started grumbling angrily, at which point he tried to hide it. Really, dude, how are you going to hide a lit cigar? Sooner or later, your pants are going to go up in flames, and not just from the lying.
I got off at North Quincy and told a T cop on my way out but I have no idea if they did anything.
I am not sure why it is so
I am not sure why it is so unresonable for the MBTA police to have uniformed officers preventing fare jumpers instead of possible confrontations with plain clothes officers after the fact. If the idea is to prevent people from getting a free ride, I would think a uniform cop would do it.
I don't know if keeping fare jumpers to a minimum is a safety issue but I would rather have everyone pay instead of prices going up to support those who don't.
If the MBTA force thinks they don't have the staff to adequately monitor fares and patrol for safety, maybe they are correct. I don't do that job, so who am I to say otherwise.
But, please officers do stop people from smoking. If you are one of the officers doing it, thank you.
If he could only make the trains run ontime
You have to admit, MBTA police exist to police the MBTA, nothing else.
Imagine city cops saying they don't want to enforce laws they consider trivial or not sufficiently important for their time or state cops deciding they can't be bothered enforcing laws they consider trivial.
Imagine city cops saying
Imagine city cops saying they don't want to enforce laws they consider trivial or not sufficiently important for their time
You mean like, oh, I don't know... MOVING VIOLATIONS? (Referring here to Boston, whose constables, I've observed, are loath to enforce traffic regs. I can't speak for other municipalities.)
Globe editorial today
Not a good day for the leadership of the Transit Police union. They got BASHED and RIDICULED in today's Globe
Ouch
The editorial.
Good luck with getting merged into the State Police with an attitude like that, guys.