DC decriminalizes Metro fare evasion. Says prosecution is RACIST

[Text Drivers are Killers]

what's the difference between it being criminal and charging a fine and it being not criminal and charging a fine.......

Under this new law, fare evasion is not a crime. It's an infraction punishable only by a fine in contrast to felonies and misdemeanors which are crimes and can involve prison time.

[Text Drivers are Killers]

I wonder something. Is the reason the majority of fare nonpays being black have something to do with poorer people use more public transportation than people who have money for a car?

And why are blacks so poor? With all the affirmative action they get they should all be rich. That average IQ of 68 is a killer.

[Oneuli]

It is easier just to post a couple guards at the gates at the stations than to put someone on a train. They can double duty to catch pick pockets and the like. I don't know what the person did, but I was waiting for a train at Metro Center and a swarm of guards just slammed some guy to the ground one day. One of them shoved me out of the way as they were doing it. They clearly were after him for something other than jumping a gate to have that many officers involved without even engaging him verbally. They blind sided that dude and all piled on top of him.

I suppose it can be done that way, too. But if you have them ticketing in the stations, rather than on the train, it's going to create some limitations about zones, etc. For example, if the system has a zone-based pricing set-up, it may not be possible to show that people's tickets aren't good for the actual ride they are taking, unless you actually ticket them when they move from one zone to another. That's easy to do aboard the train -- if you're in zone 1 and the doors close with the next stop being zone 2, then anyone without a ticket that covers moving between zones could be ticketed, whereas if you stop them in either zone 1 or zone 2, there may be no way to show they did anything wrong. Of course, that assumes a certain kind of pricing set-up, and a simpler system wouldn't have that problem.

[Oneuli]

And why are blacks so poor? With all the affirmative action they get they should all be rich.

The black poverty rate was falling very quickly in the era of racial quotas and the Great Society programs. At the end of the 1950s, well over half of black people lived in poverty (55.1%), and that had fallen all the way to 32.2% by the end of the 1960s. If we'd continued at that rate (2.29 points of improvement per year), then in just one more decade we'd have had black poverty rates as low as where white, non-Hispanic poverty rates stand today.

But, that was the start of a long, dark period when Republicans controlled the White House for 20 out of 24 years. From the perspective of black poverty, it was a lost quarter-century. The black poverty rate actually ROSE in that time -- to 33.4% by the end of the Reagan-Bush era.

Then we had the Clinton era, and another quick decline in black poverty -- to 22.5% by 2000. At that rate of improvement (1.36 points per year), it would have taken just one more decade for black poverty rates to reach the level we have today for non-Hispanic whites.

But then we got the Bush years. By 2008, black poverty was back up to 24.7%. Then there was the Obama era, and renewed improvement. By 2016, the black poverty rate was down to 22.0%. It will be interesting to see if we continue along this path of declining black poverty this time, or if things take another turn for the worse.

As for your question of why they aren't rich, perhaps it would help if you thought in geographic terms instead of racial ones. Ask yourself: why aren't people of West Virginia rich? Or Mississippi? If you look at balance of federal payments, those states take vastly more money from the federal government than they contribute in federal taxes. It amounts to a net transfer of wealth of about $7000 per capita per year. So, for an average family of four, we're talking about a $28,000 subsidy from the rest of the country (by way of over-paying states like New Jersey and Connecticut). So, why aren't they rich? Is it because of low IQs. Or could it be because of systemic issues in the economy and historical factors?

[Irish Exit]

I suppose it can be done that way, too. But if you have them ticketing in the stations, rather than on the train, it's going to create some limitations about zones, etc. For example, if the system has a zone-based pricing set-up, it may not be possible to show that people's tickets aren't good for the actual ride they are taking, unless you actually ticket them when they move from one zone to another. That's easy to do aboard the train -- if you're in zone 1 and the doors close with the next stop being zone 2, then anyone without a ticket that covers moving between zones could be ticketed, whereas if you stop them in either zone 1 or zone 2, there may be no way to show they did anything wrong. Of course, that assumes a certain kind of pricing set-up, and a simpler system wouldn't have that problem.

When I lived in the area, prices fluctuated on the time of day and when and where you got off. You bought cards with a magnetic strip you had to have enough on to open the turnstile gates to make at least the least expensive trip for that time of day or it wouldn't open, and then you used the same card to leave. If you didn't have the money on the card, you had to add fare to exit. If you did have funds, it just deducted it from your balance. If you lost your card in between, you had to pay the most expensive fare for that time frame to leave the station. There was a minimum and a maximum fare. Since my trips to and from work were pretty constant, I always knew how much I needed for a week, two weeks, a month, and would just pay it all at once.

[Oneuli]

When I lived in the area, prices fluctuated on the time of day and when and where you got off. You bought cards with a magnetic strip you had to have enough on to open the turnstile gates to make at least the least expensive trip for that time of day or it wouldn't open, and then you used the same card to leave. If you didn't have the money on the card, you had to add fare to exit. If you did have funds, it just deducted it from your balance. If you lost your card in between, you had to pay the most expensive fare for that time frame to leave the station. There was a minimum and a maximum fare. Since my trips to and from work were pretty constant, I always knew how much I needed for a week, two weeks, a month, and would just pay it all at once.

Think of all the person-hours wasted on a system like that -- with people constantly fumbling around for cards, money, etc. -- plus, people getting stuck behind people who are fumbling around that way. With a system like the one I'm talking about, for regular riders, it's almost effortless: get a monthly card, sign up for auto renewals, then just keep it in your wallet, other than on the rare occasions you're randomly stopped and asked. You can go weeks at a time without worrying about it. Similarly, people who are only in town for a week can get a week's pass and stick that in their wallet and forget about it. No queuing at turnstiles, no getting stuck behind some tourist who can't figure out what's going on, no need to force everyone on a bus or streetcar through a single door, etc. Also, a lot less trash. The whole system can function near maximum efficiency.

[Irish Exit]

Think of all the person-hours wasted on a system like that -- with people constantly fumbling around for cards, money, etc. -- plus, people getting stuck behind people who are fumbling around that way. With a system like the one I'm talking about, for regular riders, it's almost effortless: get a monthly card, sign up for auto renewals, then just keep it in your wallet, other than on the rare occasions you're randomly stopped and asked. You can go weeks at a time without worrying about it. Similarly, people who are only in town for a week can get a week's pass and stick that in their wallet and forget about it. No queuing at turnstiles, no getting stuck behind some tourist who can't figure out what's going on, no need to force everyone on a bus or streetcar through a single door, etc. Also, a lot less trash. The whole system can function near maximum efficiency.

The new metro card work like e z passes. People just rub the card over top as they go through. It isn't a huge waste. Regular riders are the ones who know how to navigate the system quickly. It was the first time tourists caught in rush hour who mucked everything up from time to time.

[RB 60]

I wonder something. Is the reason the majority of fare nonpays being black have something to do with poorer people use more public transportation than people who have money for a car?

You've never driven in DC, have you? Try finding a parking place...

[Oneuli]

The new metro card work like e z passes. People just rub the card over top as they go through. It isn't a huge waste.

That's fine, though you still need to fish it out regularly (unlike an EZ Pass which is kind of "set it and forget it"). There's also the risk of de-magnetizing. And you're still forced to go through choke-points, which can get held up if anyone in the line doesn't know what he's doing.

It was the first time tourists caught in rush hour who mucked everything up from time to time.

That's one of the benefits of the kind of system I'm talking about. Since the regular riders aren't forced to go through choke-points with the novices, the novices can't hold everyone up.

[PostmodernProphet]

Think of it as being analogous to the difference between regular speeding (getting a ticket for driving 75 in a 65 zone), and criminal speeding (e.g., getting caught doing 95 in a 65).

no such thing in Michigan....the just charge you with reckless driving......I don't care what you call it.....I don't ride your subway.....

[Text Drivers are Killers]

Blacks are lucky it's only 90%. If the law was applied equally to everyone, blacks would be 99% of the fare evaders. Blacks get special treatment on everything. And yet they still fail everywhere in the world.

[domer76]

90% of those caught are black and that's not fair!!!!! So now we get affirmative action justice.

It's their transportation system, racist cunt. They can do what they want.

[Text Drivers are Killers]

It's their transportation system, racist cunt. They can do what they want.

It was built by whites and is maintained by whites. Like everything. Blacks are takers not makers and it would be justice if we told them to build their own transportation system.

[RB 60]

It's their transportation system, racist cunt. They can do what they want.

That's funny, a racist calling another racist a racist...

[canceled.2021.1]

Paying for public transportation is racist

Don’t people know that we had slavery hundreds of years ago?