Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion (2022) / Chapter Skim
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22 This chapter presents the findings of an extensive literature review, phone survey of 18 transit agencies, and follow-up communication with those agencies for TCRP A-45. This research was done to obtain a comprehensive look at the current issues, lessons learned, and leading practices of fare enforcement programs.
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Findings and Applications 23 • Section 3.12, Capital Infrastructure to Reduce Fare Evasion: Capital investments to improve revenue collection and reduce fare evasion through station hardening and off-board fare collection. • Section 3.13, New Fare Collection Technologies and Fare Enforcement: Opportunities and challenges for fare enforcement using new technologies for fare collection.
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24 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Box 3-1. Common Definitions of Fare Evasion No ticket • Not possessing a valid ticket, transfer, or pass.
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Findings and Applications 25 Egu and Bonnel (2020) , in their study of the transit system in Lyon, France, established two categories for fare-evading behavior based on whether the behavior created a loss of revenue.
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26 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion If an agency decides to keep paper tickets, investing in low-cost anticounterfeiting features, such as foils, holograms, or embossing, makes the creation of counterfeit tickets more difficult and can be well worth their value in fare revenue capture (Starcic 2002)
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Findings and Applications 27 find it to be more profitable to pay the fare and those who choose to evade because it is more profitable to evade (Barabino and Salis 2019)
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28 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion enable an agency to better understand potential causes of fare evasion, think about how to address each subset of fare evaders, and analyze which subsets of evaders result in the most revenue loss or other negative operating impacts. While Barabino and Salis (2019)
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Findings and Applications 29 • Ideological opponents -- They challenge the legitimacy of inspections and many of them say they "hate" inspectors. • Dissatisfied clients -- They protest against poor service quality by not buying a ticket.
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30 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion shown that passengers' opinions of the transit system affect their likelihood to pay a fare. Dissatisfaction with transit, whether it be longer headways, unreliable service, or other perceived faults of service, make a passenger less likely to pay the fare (Barabino et al.
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Findings and Applications 31 with buses with front-door boarding and fare payment at the farebox, and with gated rail, which had the lowest fare evasion rate. In addition, passengers who boarded through the streetcar doors located closer to the operator had a relatively higher rate of fare compliance than those who entered through the rear doors (TTC 2020a)
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32 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion (Barabino et al. 2015; Cantillo et al.
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Findings and Applications 33 should be guided by clear program goals reinforced by measurable objectives. Program planning involves identifying fare enforcement needs and desired outcomes or goals; considering potential solutions and assessing the resources that are available and needed for implementation; and documenting the proposals or actions recommended for implementation in a program plan.
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34 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Fare Enforcement Goal Objectives Reduce fare evasion and revenue loss • Collect data needed to measure the fare evasion rate by mode/line/key location. • Establish targets for fare evasion and inspection rates.
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Findings and Applications 35 was "ensuring the efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of RapidRide's off-board fare payment system." While the auditor was able to assess the costs of fare enforcement, the absence of a performance management system, with baseline data, performance targets, and measures for outputs and outcomes, precluded an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of fare enforcement. At the time of its 2019 audit, TTC defined the objective of its fare inspectors as "to provide customer service excellence while safely enforcing the TTC By-law No.
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36 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Successful enforcement strategies and practices depend on fare enforcement personnel understanding a transit agency's policies and what is expected of them. In describing the results of research on best practices in fare inspection, a security assessment of Saint Louis's MetroLink emphasized the importance of designing an operational approach that supports the agency's fare enforcement policy.
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Findings and Applications 37 Table 3-3 identifies the personnel that are assigned to conduct fare enforcement for the transit agencies surveyed as part of TCRP A-45. In transit agencies that involve sworn peace officers in fare enforcement, these officers are divided into two categories: • Those who must directly observe an individual evade fare and may only request proof of payment if they have a reasonable suspicion or during detention for another crime and • Those who may conduct proof-of-payment inspections as part of an administrative search, which is an exception to the prohibition on suspicionless searches under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S.
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38 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion peace officers but primarily uses civilians for proof-of-payment inspections. Although BART is a proof-of-payment system, BART police officers do not conduct proof-of-payment inspections.
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Findings and Applications 39 Transit the authority to designate and employ personnel to monitor fare payment or to contract for such services. Sound Transit considered using sworn peace officers, employing in-house fare enforcement personnel, or contracting for fare enforcement.
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40 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion systems that transverse multiple jurisdictions as it allows for consistent policing across a system. The agency can define police policies and processes that completely fit the agencies goals and objectives" (WSP 2018)
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Findings and Applications 41 the citation process (City of Toronto Auditor General 2019b)
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42 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion TCRP Report 80 reached a similar conclusion in 2002 about the cost savings and customer service advantages of a dedicated fare enforcement force: "The most cost-effective inspection personnel approach is to use uniformed agency staff for conducting fare inspection, as well as assisting in performing general customer service duties" (MultiSystems, Inc., et al.
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Findings and Applications 43 In general, because there are advantages to using civilians and disadvantages to using sworn peace officers for fare enforcement, many transit agencies primarily use civilian personnel who are authorized to inspect and cite. While transit agencies may have sworn peace officers, these sworn officers are primarily focused on the safety and security of the transit system; fare enforcement is a secondary responsibility.
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Transit Agency and Fare Enforcement Rolea Police Powers Request Proof of Payment Cite for Fare Evasion Fare Enforcement Staffing Strategies and Responsibilities BART (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) BART transit police (rail)
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NYCT (New York, NY) NYPD Transit Bureau police officers (rail)
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Transit Agency and Fare Enforcement Rolea Police Powers Request Proof of Payment Cite for Fare Evasion Fare Enforcement Staffing Strategies and Responsibilities TransLink (Vancouver, BC) Transit police officers (systemwide)
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Findings and Applications 47 Similarly, bus and light rail operators at SFMTA and TransLink are instructed to focus on driving the vehicle and not to engage with passengers about fares at all, except to answer questions. In agencies that operate BRT services, the operator's role depends on where fare collection occurs.
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48 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Personnel may also be required to wear uniforms by state or local law, labor agreement, or contractual terms. DART fare enforcement personnel and those of other Texas transit authorities are required by the state to be in uniform, although they are not required to be sworn peace officers (Larwin and Kaprowski 2012)
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Findings and Applications 49 Overall, the type of defensive and protective equipment varies significantly and appears to be based on agency-specific decisions and the operating environment. Decisions about the protective equipment issued influence how personnel are deployed and the type of training required or provided.
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50 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion 3.3.1.3 Hiring Requirements Hiring requirements for civilian personnel vary by agency. Requirements may be influenced by the responsibilities and authority of the personnel (e.g., MTS security officers and RTD transit security officers are armed)
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Findings and Applications 51 Sworn peace officers must go through formal training at a certified academy followed by agency training. Training standards are defined by each state and are often referred to as "peace officer standards and training" (POST)
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52 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Most training for civilian personnel is conducted in-house, especially as fare enforcement programs mature. For new programs, transit agencies may use external training programs as the agency develops in-house expertise.
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Findings and Applications 53 defensive training. For example, BART fare inspectors receive training on evasive tactics (i.e., how to get away from someone if you are being attacked)
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54 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Box 3-2. Hiring and Training of Enforcement Personnel: Metropolitan Transit System Hiring of code compliance inspectors is done in-house by the MTS Human Resources Department.
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Findings and Applications 55 Box 3-3. Revisiting Training Needs: Sound Transit Sound Transit provides an example of basic training requirements that were updated as real-life experience demonstrated the need for more training and more training in specific areas, especially in-the-field training.
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56 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Box 3-4. Learning Objectives and Collaboration Efforts: TriMet TriMet (2019)
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Findings and Applications 57 • Standard operating procedures, including fare inspection processes, fare enforcement discretion, and inspection team composition and size; and • Strategies for assigning and scheduling fare enforcement deployments. These are discussed below.
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58 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion being able to conduct 100% inspections and systematically inspect all passengers encountered regardless of the deployment strategy used. Systemwide Patrols.
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Findings and Applications 59 civilian fare enforcement officers to each zone, DART police were able to respond to calls for assistance within 5 to 7 minutes (Larwin and Kaprowski 2012)
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60 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion While focused deployments may be a key component of an agency's fare enforcement strategy, they can make the agency more susceptible to allegations of profiling or targeting. Transit agencies surveyed have noted these concerns and have been modifying their fare enforcement deployments to address them.
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Findings and Applications 61 They were also viewed as creating an intimidating atmosphere for SFMTA's passengers, especially those who do not speak English (Rhodes 2010)
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62 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion they lack the authority to enforce fares in an off-board fare-paid area, the resources to conduct them effectively, and/or the ability to conduct them safely due to crowding on the platform. Off-board Fare Enforcement.
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Findings and Applications 63 RCW 81.112.220 (2012) gives Sound Transit the authority to inspect and enforce fares within designated areas of stations and on station platforms that have been clearly marked with signage identifying them as "Proof of Payment Required" zones.
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64 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion fare-paid area inside the fare gates. (BART police officers are still unable to request proof of payment without reasonable suspicion that an individual evaded fare payment or detention of an individual for another crime.)
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Findings and Applications 65 For example, SFMTA does not need to station transit fare inspectors at the Chase Center after events, which frees them up to focus on other fare enforcement assignments. 3.3.2.3 Standard Operating Procedures Standard operating procedures provide clear direction as to how the members of an organization must complete certain processes.
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66 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Box 3-5. Summary of Metropolitan Transit System Standard Operations and Procedures Manual MTS provides employees with a manual detailing the professional discharge of all duties and procedures.
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Findings and Applications 67 Fare Inspection Processes. One of the critical components of standard operating procedures establishes how and where fare inspections should occur.
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68 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion A common strategy for conducting 100% inspections is for fare enforcement personnel to enter through each door of the vehicle and then inspect the fares of everyone on board. Sound Transit uses this approach.
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Findings and Applications 69 illegally entered a station. Transit agencies have different tolerances for fare evasion (and different tolerances for different types of fare evasion)
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70 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion children, seniors, people with disabilities, and people with limited English proficiency. However, if an individual has received a warning for the same or similar conduct, it may be inappropriate to issue another warning.
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Findings and Applications 71 Valley Metro are among the agencies that focus on education to increase fare compliance and revenue recovery. Rather than citing and fining fare evaders, these transit agencies focus on fare recovery by educating the individual on how to pay and having the individual purchase a fare rather than citing them.
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72 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Team size may also have a role in preventing violence onboard and possible economic losses. Because efforts to control fare evasion by increasing detection rates can exacerbate violent behavior onboard, damaging the image of the public transportation system, Barabino et al.
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Findings and Applications 73 SFMTA also implemented adjustments to shift schedules to increase effectiveness and efficiency. Conducting fare enforcement at strategic times may also have an impact on effectiveness by reducing fare evasion during other times.
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74 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of a fare enforcement program depends, at least in part, on understanding the performance of an agency's fare inspection function. The San Francisco Budget Analyst (2009)
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Findings and Applications 75 valid sample of fare evasion systemwide that can help identify locations and times of day with higher incidences or rates of fare evasion. In the absence of these data, transit agencies may use other data sources, such as warning and citation data from fare inspections or fare collection data.
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Box 3-6. Toronto Transit Commission's Use of Data to Assist in Fare Enforcement Deployment TTC uses data to strategically deploy fare enforcement and has plans to expand its use of data in identifying hot spots to assist in resource deployments.
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Findings and Applications 77 Box 3-6. (Continued)
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78 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Data can also identify what types of fare evasion (e.g., no proof of payment, expired fare) are occurring by time of day.
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Findings and Applications 79 Source: Lee (2011)
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80 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Source: SFMTA (2014)
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Findings and Applications 81 Source: MTS (2020a)
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82 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion While fare enforcement for a given zone or line may be assigned consistently, fare enforcement personnel are instructed to vary their path. For example, on Sound Transit's commuter rail, fare enforcement officers are given the flexibility to adjust their inspection patterns to ensure that every scheduled train is inspected at least once per week and that the inspection pattern is random (Cummins et al.
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Findings and Applications 83 5:45 p.m., with the highest coverage on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, when schedules overlapped. These peaks in coverage are illustrated in Figure 3-12.
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84 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion fare enforcement officers assist with fare enforcement on light rail to provide additional coverage or fill in any gaps due to vacations, sick leave, or vacancies (Cummins et al.
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Findings and Applications 85 same routes for the same time periods. The overlap occurred because there were multiple starting times and heavier coverage on certain routes.
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86 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Yin et al.
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Findings and Applications 87 • Counter-terrorism patrols of stations to optimize security by focusing on different stations but favoring those with high passenger volumes and those in key economic and cultural areas of the city (e.g., tourist locations, business and financial districts)
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88 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion maintain a program, as well as a means of measuring and assessing performance results. Performance data, including baseline performance results, make it possible to set realistic performance targets.
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Findings and Applications 89 or in conjunction with recommending program changes and updating resource requirements. Reports may also be provided to the public to improve community understanding and promote openness and transparency in the fare enforcement program.
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90 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion performance and understanding reasons for performance outcomes. Audits, including performance audits and fare evasion audits, are valuable both in data collection and in providing independent analyses and understanding of the reasons behind performance results.
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Findings and Applications 91 As part of monitoring performance trends, transit agencies are beginning to develop dashboards in addition to performance reports. For example, to increase the use of data to identify potential fare evasion risks and inform deployment, TTC uses an internal performance dashboard for fare inspection that is updated weekly and monthly.
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92 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion working to improve its complaint investigation process and enhance public trust by strengthening the independence of the review process and working to protect against racial/ethnic bias in its investigations. TTC has simplified its complaint process and revised its investigation procedures to make it easier to submit complaints by phone, mail, or online.
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Findings and Applications 93 less than $1,000 per month. These survey results supported the need for an income-based fare for individuals with very low or no income as well as a fare violation resolution program that considers the adverse impacts on these populations.
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94 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion and provided recommendations on specific aspects of fare enforcement, as reflected in the topics covered by each audit. Those topics are summarized in Table 3-9.
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Findings and Applications 95 The purpose of performance audits is to improve the performance of the fare enforcement program and identify opportunities to increase program efficiency and effectiveness. It is not unusual for a performance audit to include recommendations on an agency's or a program's performance management practices.
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96 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion measuring fare evasion rates annually, and reporting the results to the public to reduce fare evasion by educating customers and building a fare-compliant culture. The audits of King County Metro, Metro Transit, and SFMTA found that the purposes of their fare enforcement programs were not clearly communicated, which hampered King County Metro's and Metro Transit's abilities to assess the effectiveness of their fare enforcement activities and SFMTA's ability to provide clear direction for its program.
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Findings and Applications 97 targets of King County Metro's 2020 Fare Enforcement Program. (Note: King County Metro suspended fare collection and fare enforcement between March and October 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.)
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98 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion are conducted or supported by other organizations to provide necessary skills and resources as well as an independent assessment. Metro Transit, for example, periodically conducts fare check surveys to measure fare evasion rates.
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Findings and Applications 99 law enforcement agency will use its resources to impact priority problems on the transit system" (BCA Watson Rice et al.
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100 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion • Inspection rate: The percentage of the agency's total passengers [i.e., on the proof-of-payment service(s)
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Findings and Applications 101 produce official evasion rates and to provide a means of identifying particular problem areas (e.g., station locations, times of day)
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102 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion zone, and direction of travel. For audits/surveys, weights are often based on the ratio of the total ridership for a given stratum and applied to the surveys collected from that group (Schaller 2005)
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Findings and Applications 103 The use of handheld devices by fare inspectors to check and track fare enforcement activities can improve data accuracy and the data collected. These data help explain reasons for noncompliance, the number of warnings and citations, and the number of fares inspected.
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104 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion For example, the 2016 Metro Transit fare evasion audit was conducted only between 6 a.m.
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Findings and Applications 105 Box 3-8. Variability in Fare Evasion Rates on the Basis of Different Data Sources Gupta and Chen (2014)
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106 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion A number of surveying methods, along with strategies for staffing audits/surveys, were found in the literature and during the phone surveys conducted as part of TCRP A-45: • While bus surveys are often conducted onboard the vehicle for a specific run (Egu and Bonnel 2020) , on rail there is more flexibility.
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Findings and Applications 107 whether to use personnel in uniform, as this can increase fare compliance and, consequently, understate the true fare evasion rate. • In Toronto, during the 2019 audit of TTC revenue operations, in addition to having auditors observe fare inspectors and record the results of inspections, auditors also reviewed security camera footage for illegal entries at four automatic subway entrances (City of Toronto Auditor General 2019b)
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108 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Box 3-9. Alternative Sampling Strategies On bus services, a transit agency can use the farebox to conduct a census instead of conducting a survey.
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Findings and Applications 109 When developing the sampling plan for measuring fare evasion, transit agencies have found that it is important to consider and validate the methodology and the way that the surveys are conducted in practice. In 2019, the New York MTA Office of the Inspector General identified concerns related to the validity of the methodology and results of the NYCT quarterly fare evasion audits (MTA 2019b)
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110 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion strata (weekday AM peak, weekday midday, weekday PM peak, weekday night, and weekend) (Metropolitan Council 2016)
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Findings and Applications 111 precision. However, goals for an absolute precision level may help in reducing the sample size needed and may be more appropriate for measuring fare evasion (PwC 2007)
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112 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion fare paid by adult passengers. Further, the average fare that would have been paid by fare evaders may vary from that of the general population.
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Findings and Applications 113 invalid passes or transfers, about 70% paid the fare while the other 30% chose not to ride (King County Metro 2010)
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114 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion To address concerns about the cost-effectiveness of collecting additional data, some transit agencies have taken practical applications to simplify data collection. For example, to estimate the number of fare-evading children, NYCT surveyors differentiate between individuals who are under or over 44 inches tall, which corresponds to the turnstile height (Reddy et al.
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Findings and Applications 115 3.6 Fare Inspection Levels Determining an appropriate level of fare inspection is an agency-specific decision and relies on a mix of agency targets and policies, operational characteristics, and agency constraints. Some factors that affect fare evasion rates remain largely outside agency control (e.g., socioeconomic conditions around stations/stops, levels of regional unemployment)
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116 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion the Inspector General found a similar inverse relationship between the number of inspections and fare evasion rates over time (LACMTA Inspector General 2010)
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Findings and Applications 117 However, increasing fines (and thus decreasing the fare-to-fine ratio) can result in a decline in payment of fines.
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118 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion enforcement program reduced fare evasion by just 2 percentage points, the fare revenue collected would offset the cost of the fare inspectors (Lee 2011)
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Findings and Applications 119 to over $100,000. TCRP Synthesis 96 compared the number of FTE inspectors on a financial basis and productivity basis (Larwin and Kaprowski 2012)
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120 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion • Type and cost of inspection personnel, • Available budget, • Ancillary duties of fare enforcement personnel, and • Use of inspection teams. TCRP Report 80 also identifies metrics that can help to inform these decisions, including inspection rates, the number of inspectors per 1,000 riders, the productivity of inspectors, and the relationship between inspection and evasion rates.
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Findings and Applications 121 decriminalizing fare evasion, there has been a shift toward a customer-oriented approach to fare enforcement that focuses on customer service and educating passengers to promote fare compliance rather than summarily citing and fining them for fare evasion. 3.7.1 Authority to Enforce Fares For fare enforcement systems, transit agencies must establish the who, what, when, where, and how of fare enforcement.
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122 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion a citation, but "is not a peace officer and has no authority to enforce a criminal law other than the authority possessed by any other person who is not a peace officer." In other cases, civilian personnel may be able to inspect fares but unable to cite. Metro Transit's community service officers and conductors are able to request proof of payment, but only police officers are able to cite.
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Findings and Applications 123 While some codes and ordinances use generic references (e.g., "failure to pay," "failure to show proof of payment") , others identify specific types of fare evasion.
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124 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion may deploy fare enforcement personnel to observe fare payment at the farebox, but personnel are unable to cite unless they observe someone entering or boarding without paying. Conversely, on ungated, open systems, as well as some partially gated systems, passengers may be required to carry and present proof of payment upon request.
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Findings and Applications 125 Transit agencies may also create diversion programs to resolve citations in-house within a set time period before unresolved citations are transmitted to the court system. 3.7.1.7 How Do Changes in Law Influence Fare Enforcement Authorities?
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126 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion 3.7.2.1 Criminal Versus Civil Penalties Depending on applicable codes and ordinances, fare evasion is a criminal violation for some transit agencies (most commonly either an infraction or a misdemeanor)
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Findings and Applications 127 Bijleveld (2007) studied the relative effectiveness of civil and criminal penalties for getting fare evaders on the Dutch national railway to pay fines at a time when the payment rate was about 30%.
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128 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion TCRP Report 80 observed that fare enforcement personnel may be reluctant to issue a citation if the fine is particularly high, because of the lack of proportionality to the fare (MultiSystems, Inc., et al.
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Findings and Applications 129 revenues frequently are not returned to the transit agency when fines are handled by the courts (Larwin and Kaprowski 2012)
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130 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion use of a transfer ($195 CAD)
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Findings and Applications 131 suspensions from service increase to 90 days then 180 days and then 1 year. These suspension levels apply to all passengers, including minors.
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132 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion an individual with unpaid fines from reinsuring their personal vehicle. In Oregon, if a citation issued by TriMet can be linked to an individual that files a state tax return, unpaid citations may be withheld from a future state tax refund.
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Findings and Applications 133 members of the public by intercepting tax refunds through the Franchise Tax Board, which collects state personal and corporate income taxes in California. However, a transit agency may first attempt to collect unpaid fines before transmitting a claim to the Franchise Tax Board.
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134 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion • Decriminalize fare evasion and adjudicate it through an administrative review and resolution process rather than through the court system and make fare evasion subject only to an administrative penalty (BART, King County Metro, LA Metro, MBTA, SFMTA)
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Findings and Applications 135 Another concern is whether decriminalization can successfully address the criminalization of fare evasion among vulnerable populations. One of the goals for the MTS Fare Enforcement Diversion Program is to identify feasible alternatives for vulnerable individuals to resolve fare evasion citations, since one of the challenges is repeat offenders who do not resolve their citations and do not show up for court hearings, thereby defeating attempts to help them avoid criminal penalties.
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136 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion the Hearing Unit, provides due process for resolving citations through appeals, payment of fines, inability-to-pay waivers, and diversion programs. The decriminalization of fare evasion for minors lagged the action to decriminalize fare evasion for adults.
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Findings and Applications 137 Unlike programs in which a transit agency handles administrative citations exclusively in-house, with no court involvement, the MTS and TriMet diversion programs transmit citations that are not resolved administratively within a defined time frame to the court of jurisdiction for the agency's fare evasion violations. While these programs incorporate some of the administrative processes discussed previously, there is a substantive difference in the ultimate resolution of the violation if the citation is not resolved and voided.
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138 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion criminal citations; instead, it issues civil citations for fare evasion, as codified in TriMet Ordinance 351 (TriMet 2018c)
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Findings and Applications 139 service must be an option for civil fare evasion citations issued to minors or to individuals who provide satisfactory evidence of an inability to pay the penalty in full. For criminal citations, such as those issued by MTS, the California Penal Code requires transit agencies to offer an option of up to 48 hours of community service over 30 days during times that the individual is not in school or working.
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140 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Inability to Pay Waiver to the transit court within 90 days of violation issuance. Further, for LA Metro, community service may only be completed once in any 12-month period and upon order of a Metro hearing officer.
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Findings and Applications 141 Recent changes to SFMTA's community service program reduced the processing fees for all participants and increased the allowable time for completing the largest citation amounts enrolled. In addition, low-income individuals with a gross annual income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level are granted one waiver of the enrollment fee per calendar year.
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142 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion allows unpaid transit fines and fees to be paid in three monthly installments: 30% for the first payment, 35% for the second payment after 30 days, and remaining 35% for the third payment after 60 days. Under SFMTA's monthly payments plan, individuals with outstanding transit and parking citations may enroll in a plan that allows them to make minimum monthly payments on the basis of the total amount of the citations enrolled in the payment plan.
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Findings and Applications 143 The Level 3 appeal to the superior court is a trial de novo; that is, it is conducted without regard to the findings made at the previous reviews, although a copy of the notice of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation is received in evidence. Appealing the decision of an administrative hearing requires an individual to do so in person at the superior court.
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144 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion In the course of the research on fare evasion, two U.S. court decisions were identified that ruled the use of transit police to conduct proof-of-payment inspections violated passengers' constitutional rights: City of Cleveland v.
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Findings and Applications 145 While the decision in City of Cleveland v. Ronnie Williams does not hold precedent, depending on the outcome of the State of Maryland v.
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146 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion • TriMet revised TriMet Ordinance 351 to address the first two conditions of the test for a valid administrative search. The revisions clarified that the fare evasion is noncriminal and that the only penalties will be a warning, civil citation, or exclusion.
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Findings and Applications 147 3.8.1.1 Fare Simplification Audits and studies of fare enforcement and revenue protection procedures have made the case that complex fare structures are more difficult to understand and use and that simplifying them may reduce fare evasion (Horizon Research Corp. 2002; Fürst and Herold 2018; King County Auditor's Office 2009; City of Toronto Auditor General 2019b; Dauby and Kovacs 2007)
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148 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion While the regional Puget Pass and interagency transfer agreements enable passengers to more seamlessly transfer between transit agencies, the agencies' differing fare policies and enforcement programs remain a source of customer confusion. King County Metro (2020)
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Findings and Applications 149 3.8.1.3 Affordability Affordability is a key factor in fare evasion. The Horizon Research Corp.
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150 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Los Angeles County and requires an application and proof of income. Alternatively, LIFE transportation assistance may be applied toward the purchase of a pass on one of the participating transit agencies.
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Findings and Applications 151 Another concern with free fares is their potential to harm the public image of a transit agency. Perone (2002)
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152 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion 3.8.2.1 Customer Education Through Public Engagement Efforts Public engagement provides opportunities for transit agencies to involve passengers, communities, stakeholders, and the general public in the process of considering changes, for example, to the fare enforcement program. This process is bidirectional, providing opportunities for agencies to educate stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges associated with fare evasion and fare enforcement and for stakeholders to educate transit agency staff by sharing their perspectives and feedback.
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Findings and Applications 153 Box 3-12. King County Metro Work Group on Fare Enforcement Policies and Procedures The work group's collective, overarching goal was to increase access to public transportation for underserved communities and address disparate impact on low-income and minority passengers.
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154 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion enforcement policies, systems, and practices, including TTC's discretion policy, uniform design ideas, body-worn camera pilot, complaint procedures, and anti-racism policy. TTC has also commissioned a third-party Racial Equity Impact Assessment of the policies and procedures that are in place to govern the enforcement, training, collection, retention, access, sharing, and destruction of personal information collected as part of the fare inspection program.
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Findings and Applications 155 As part of changing social norms to create a fare-compliant culture, personnel responsible for planning customer education campaigns should understand fare evasion behavior and the motivations for them.
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156 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion to have valid proof of bus fare payment. The warning states that "[p]
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Findings and Applications 157 2 weeks of service to introduce the proof-of-payment concept and explain the benefits of SBS service. Ambassadors also provided coverage when school opened to help students understand the new payment requirements.
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158 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion A number of transit agencies surveyed deploy personnel to serve as ambassadors in addition to their fare enforcement personnel. Valley Metro has permanent customer experience coordinators who work at stations to educate and answer questions but do not participate in fare enforcement.
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Findings and Applications 159 single/multiple TAP cards, loading stored value, transferring stored value, and reloading senior reduced-fare TAP cards. Some transit agencies have taken these instructions a step further and posted tutorials and videos on their websites to help passengers understand how to pay the fare and other fare requirements.
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160 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion In Toronto, TTC experienced a similar reaction to campaigns intended to encourage passengers to pay fares and promote fare-compliant "tap every time" behavior by making the public aware of the impacts of fare evasion. TTC ran three campaigns: "Fare is fair," "Pay your fare, pay your share," and "There is no excuse not to pay your fare." The campaign strategies included digital and print advertising via ads in vehicles, decals above card readers, wrapped streetcars and light rail vehicles (see Figure 3-17)
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Findings and Applications 161 3.9.1 Public Perception of Fare Evasion The act of using public transit places passengers in a social contract with a transit agency. This social contract has two key terms: 1.
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162 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion design required transfers that involved long wait times, and the fare system no longer accepted cash but relied instead on smart cards for fare payment on all modes throughout the system. Some key elements of system design were not in place at rollout, which resulted in service quality and coverage issues, crowding, and fare evasion.
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Findings and Applications 163 Fare evasion is a major concern for TTC, as revenue losses contribute to the need for fare increases and create inequities for paying passengers. To protect itself from revenue loss due to fare evasion, TTC is focused on promoting a fare-compliant culture characterized by social norms that reinforce fare compliance and discourage negative customer behavior.
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164 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Maybe they were laid off. Maybe there's an emergency and no time to refill.
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Findings and Applications 165 Ombudsman Toronto (2019) observed that those accountability measures may not have been taken if witnesses had not had access to social media.
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166 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion also found a link between fare enforcement presence and an increased sense of security. Following an incident at a DART station in 2012 that left one passenger dead and injured another passenger and a DART police officer, DART increased its security efforts and redeployed police and fare enforcement officers to provide a uniformed presence on every train.
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Findings and Applications 167 (WSP 2018)
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168 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion the mayor's proposal to increase the "millionaire's" tax on city residents to make transit more affordable for those who need assistance by funding New York City's Fair Fares program, which provides a 50% discount on pay-per-ride and unlimited MetroCards to New Yorkers whose annual income is below the federal poverty level. There have also been calls to address the underlying causes of fare evasion, such as poverty and homelessness, instead of increasing fare enforcement.
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Findings and Applications 169 results are not indicative of a pattern of systemic bias, it does not mean a transit agency should be any less vigilant in ensuring its enforcement practices are fair and unbiased through continued training, data monitoring, and policy reflection." It is also important for transit agencies to be sensitive to the perception of systemic bias and discrimination. Community perceptions of agency behavior affect public trust in transit agencies, whether or not those perceptions are valid.
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170 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion were directed explicitly to warn, not cite, first-time offenders, no significant differences in the likelihood of being cited rather than warned were found for Black adults as compared with White adults. As a result of this analysis, Metro Transit issued an administrative announcement implementing a warning first practice to ensure fairness and consistency in how first-time fare evaders are treated and eliminate potential bias and discrimination.
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Findings and Applications 171 Box 3-13. Work Groups to Review Fare Enforcement Programs King County Metro and Sound Transit both formed work groups to review their fare enforcement programs and provide recommendations to improve the programs with a specific focus on promoting equity.
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172 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion 3.10.3 Data Challenges in Assessing and Addressing Discrimination Recent efforts to analyze fare enforcement data underscore the need for more data on enforcement activities. This includes data on all passenger stops and inspections, in order to identify whether systemic bias or discrimination could be affecting enforcement outcomes.
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Findings and Applications 173 inspections. As part of the 2018 study, Renauer (2018)
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174 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion of individuals to whom fare evasion warnings and citations are issued. This reporting is part of MBTA's effort to ensure that fare enforcement is unbiased.
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Findings and Applications 175 individuals who are disruptive or evading fare payment to instead providing ways to help them connect to available resources. TCRP Synthesis 121 observes that successful initiatives target specific behavior by using formal or informal policies to define prohibited behavior (e.g., engaging in loud or disruptive behavior)
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176 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion As a result of the growing number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, there has been a notable increase in the number of individuals and families seeking shelter on LA Metro vehicles and at LA Metro facilities. Recognizing this, several organizations contacted LA Metro, seeking to provide outreach at transportation hubs with the objective of getting people off the street and into programs.
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Findings and Applications 177 de-escalating encounters by persuading individuals in crisis to accept help and connect them to resources. TriMet is exploring opportunities to deploy mental health professionals with the expertise to interact with and meet these needs.
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178 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion charged with a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $400 instead of $250 and/or imprisonment for up to 90 days [California Penal Code 640(a)
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Findings and Applications 179 gates or emergency exits, electronically locked access gates, or use of cameras and alarms at emergency exit gates. Gating stations does not prevent all types of fare evasion, and not all transit systems and stations can or should be gated.
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180 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion of an evacuation safety issue. BART has also relocated some gates to more conspicuous locations, such as next to station agent booths, to help deter evaders by putting them in the line of sight of BART staff.
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Findings and Applications 181 station infrastructure to better protect revenue. In 2019, TTC updated settings on fare gates to reduce the default time that they remain open after a passenger taps their fare media to reduce opportunities for fare evaders to tailgate (TTC 2019c)
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182 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion As noted, transit agencies must consider how their fare gates (among other station elements) affect accessibility.
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Findings and Applications 183 Given that a transit agency cannot monitor all video feeds, a number of transit agencies surveyed are exploring options for video analytic software to do that job. It is important to note that the software used or being considered by transit agencies does not include facial recognition.
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184 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion enforcement in those areas. SacRT has painted red lines on the pavement at station edges to better define station boundaries and, coupled with additional station signage, to help create "virtual closure" of stations (Bizjak 2016)
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Findings and Applications 185 3.12.2.4 Gating Strategic Stations Given the high capital costs to gate an entire system, some transit agencies gate specific stations, such as those with high volumes of passengers and terminal stations. This can be a strategic way to minimize fare evasion costs effectively without gating an entire system.
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186 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion Inc., et al.
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Findings and Applications 187 exit. For BART, which is gated and has distance-based fares, a passenger is only required to have sufficient stored value funds to pay the minimum fare to enter a station; BART does not require a passenger to have the maximum fare.
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188 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion validate whether the SRVMs were out of service when conducting onboard inspections, when conducting offboarding inspections, the fare inspectors were not able to reboard the streetcar to verify that the SRVMs were out of service. TTC has also experienced issues with the reliability of the PRESTO smart card validator.
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Findings and Applications 189 These experiences suggest that passenger proximity and interaction with the operator may influence fare evasion rates. 3.13 New Fare Collection Technologies and Fare Enforcement Since the introduction of prepaid fare media and self-service fare collection, fare media have evolved.
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190 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion must write to a user's card whenever a transaction (e.g., a boarding) occurs, these transactions are more complex and necessitate more complex (and typically more expensive)
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Findings and Applications 191 activated. If transit security officers believe a passenger purchased a mobile ticket after boarding the vehicle, they may issue a warning or citation.
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192 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion of queuing at a TVM that would cause them to miss their ride. Account-based systems further reduce this barrier by ensuring funds are available as soon as the passenger loads them to their transit account.
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Findings and Applications 193 Relatedly, another TCRP study found that boarding times with prepayment were faster than with onboard payment. TCRP Report 90 found that with prepayment, boarding times averaged 2.5 seconds per passenger per door, while onboard payment times averaged 3.5 seconds for smart cards and 4 seconds or more for exact change and swipe/dip cards (Levinson et al.
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194 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion directly affects the fare revenue collected. Some agencies have gone as far as to define not tapping as fare evasion so they can cite riders, hopefully encouraging them to change their behavior in the future.
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Findings and Applications 195 Transit agencies are also integrating smart cards with discount/concession fare IDs that prove a passenger's eligibility for discounted fare products by printing the ID on a smart card associated with the individual. Doing so means that these passengers no longer need to carry a separate ID in addition to their fare media to prove eligibility.
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196 Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion devices, such as those used by LA Metro, may even be able to deduct fare if there is sufficient stored value. In addition to being necessary to inspect electronic fare media, handheld devices such as these introduce opportunities for improved fare inspection operations.
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Findings and Applications 197 During the audit of TTC's revenue operations, the City of Toronto Auditor General (2019b) outlined the importance of having quick and easy access to this database: [I]
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