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Undercover T cops busting fare evaders
By adamg on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 11:25am
Carl Stevens of WBZ rides along with some undercover T cops on the Green Line, including one who probably needs to grow a mustache now or something:
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Comments
Dougie
I'm glad to see Mirabelli finally found a job.
Guess the real-estate job fell through
Poor Dougie :-).
About time!
About time!
Maybe if the T thought about
Maybe if the T thought about this before going to the new charlie card/pass/ticket/whatever we wouldn't have so many fare evaders. I am on the D line every morning & most mornings you can't even make it up to the front to pay.
If they are going to allow ppl on in the back then they should have rigged up some sort of electronic fare collector in the back doors. But no instead we are putting cops on the T to collect fares. And we wonder why the T is in the state that it is....
If they are going to allow
The T is testing one. However it doesn't really solve the problem. Someone intent on evading the fare will ignore is as they ignore calls to go to the front and pay. That's wasted money.
Sending transit cops out is more effective and reminds riders that there are undercover cops around, which is likely to cut down on fare evasion, vandalism and other crimes.
Not quite
The point is to do _both_. You put on rear door fare machines and you raise the penalty but tell the driver to ignore who pays and who doesn't (thus speeding up boarding and making the whole line more efficient by like 20%). THEN, you put random spot checks with uniformed or plain-clothes MBTA cops who hand out violations for the jacked-up rate and people will be much more willing to pay the $2 fare than the $50 ticket if they feel like they'll get caught more than once in every 25 rides.
Yah, but...
- Why are the rear doors opening in the first place??
- Why is the T surprised people are walking into an open door?
- Hey, why not put a tap-reader on the rear doors? Oops- that would make sense
- What magical land is this where people board the back door to avoid a crowd, and the T actually things they will fight the crowd to move up front, tap their pass, then fight to get to the back of the subway again?
- Why don't they have hand-held computer ticket machines like the meter maids do. who writes tickets by hand?
- Who is surprised college students are trying to save a buck?
- Why even do this on the green line? Why not at a station where dozens also skip fare?
- Why nail college students when at north Station most mornings they wave everyone through without collecting a cent in fare
- Why do I constantly see bus drivers waving people on for free because they don't want to wait for them to insert cash into the on-board machine.
they do have *some* readers
- Hey, why not put a tap-reader on the rear doors? Oops- that would make sense
They do have verifiers installed on some of the newer Breda cars, though they're apparently not working yet and WinCE based. All the ones on the train I got onto yesterday were either at "calibrate my screen" or WinCE desktop pages.
What makes more sense: trimming the # of stops down so that service is faster (the precious BC/BU/NEU snowflakes will have to walk 5 minutes? Horrors!), and make the stops actual mini-stations. In stations outside the US, it's common for the "stop" to be a sort of big tube. It's sheltered, which is a big plus, but also in order to get in you have to pass through a fare gate. Because the 'tube' is the length of the train, embarking/disembarking is quick.
What makes even more sense than eliminating stops.
Run trains more frequently, and not just during rush hour, but all day long. More trains = fewer crowds on platforms. Fewer crowds = faster boarding. Faster boarding = less dwell time. Less dwell time = faster trips. Faster trips = more riders. More riders = more revenue.
- Why do I constantly see
Not to mention the many times bus drivers wave people on for free because the on-board machine is not working. I see this happen a lot.
Rear doors
I believe the policy at above-ground stops is "board via the front door" and "exit via any door". (Just like how we all use the buses.) If they didn't open the rear doors, it would take a long time for the people getting off at each stop to all funnel out through the front door. The important thing is that people board using the front door. (I suggested to the T that they add signage on the platforms directly next to where the front door of each car is saying "BOARD HERE", but I don't think it's been tried.)
Amazing, I thought MBTA
Amazing, I thought MBTA police were just for guarding the Mike's Donut at Forest Hills. Next thing you know they'll actually venture downstairs to an Orange Line platform and who knows maybe even deal with a scofflaw or two.
Fare Evasion
They really ought to send the Transit Police out on the Commuter Rail. that's where there is lax collection and rampant fraud. Plus at $7-$8 a ride it pays for itself a LOT quicker.
Be nice if those commuters with fake color copies of monthly passes and "friends of the conductor" start paying their way!