|
|
| No more free rides on LA subways (1229942) | |
 |
|
| Home > SubChat | |
[ Post a New Response | Return to the Index ]
|
| (1229942) | |
No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 05:25:11 2013 No more free rides on LA subways LOS ANGELES - A hybridized honor system -- in place for subway and light-rail riders since 1990 -- will go the way of the Pacific Electric Red Car starting at 11 a.m. today when transit officials lock the turnstiles at the subway entrances beneath Union Station and require riders to pay. Only riders with a TAP card pre-loaded with enough money to pay the $1.50 basic fare will be given access beyond the turnstile to ride the Red Line or the Purple Line subways from Union Station. A TAP card costs $1 but is reusable. For the first time in the modern Metro rail system's history, the turnstiles won't release unless a passenger swipes his or her TAP card across the blue reader at the entrance. The Red and Purple lines, which go through downtown to North Hollywood and Koreatown, respectively, carry 360,000 passengers a day. The Red Line is Metro's busiest rail line and Union Station is the hub of all rail, train and bus lines in Southern California. "Everybody has to pay. No more freebies," remarked Bart Reed, executive director of The Transit Coalition, a San Fernando Valley-based transit watchdog group. Because the majority of riders usually pay their fares and are comfortable with the TAP system, the move toward what Metro calls "latched turnstiles" is mostly welcomed by commuters and transit groups. "It is fair for everybody," Reed said. "If everybody pays, perhaps we can have a more robust system." Indeed, Metro estimates it will recoup $7 million from fare evaders on the Red Line alone by this time next year, said Metro spokesman Paul Gonzales. Some want to see the money used to increase service at night and during midday, but Metro has not committed to such improvements as yet. The must-pay system replaces a system where riders were expected to pay the fare and then show their ticket to a sheriff's deputy on the platform or on the train, but only if asked. A rider caught without a ticket would be issued a $75 fine, Gonzales said. For most of the time since the rail system was built, beginning with the Blue Line from Long Beach to L.A. in 1990, the honor system has been in place. For stations with turnstiles, the gates were left open. Some lines cannot accommodate turnstiles, such as portions of the Blue Line, and therefore will never be latched, he said. But sheriff's deputies will patrol these areas for ticket evaders. A crackdown on fare evaders began in the past few months and will continue gradually into next year. At the Wilshire/Normandie stations in January, Metro recorded as many "free entry" riders as TAP riders. Metro announced it will latch 15 gates at Red and Purple Line subway stations by the end of summer. The last station to be latched on the Red Line will be 7th/Metro on Aug. 26. Riders of the Gold Line light rail from Pasadena to Union Station and East L.A. will encounter locked turnstiles Oct. 14 at the following stations: Sierra Madre Villa, Allen Avenue, Lake Avenue and Mariachi Plaza in East L.A., Gonzales said. The move to latched turnstiles, which began in 2002, was stalled until Metro's partner, Metrolink commuter rail, was able to get on the TAP system. Metrolink passengers can ride light-rail lines for free with a Metrolink pass or a ticket. Just recently, Metrolink embedded the "EZ TAP" chip in its paper tickets and monthly passes so that riders can swipe to open the subway turnstiles. "Our riders had the biggest issue of getting through the gate," said Jeff Lustgarten, Metrolink spokesman. "Now, our ticket automatically gets you onto the subway and the bus system." Because 63 percent of the 44,000 daily Metrolink riders pass through busy Union Station, assuring a smooth connection to the Red and Purple lines was critical, he said. Metrolink, which runs double-decker diesel trains to Union Station from San Bernardino through the San Gabriel Valley and from Riverside, Lancaster, Ventura and Orange County, is also cracking down on fair cheaters. A new report released Friday to the Metrolink board found those ducking fares amounted to 2.8 percent of its riders and cost the commuter rail agency about $1.8 million a year in lost revenue. The highest percent of fare evaders occurred on the Antelope Valley and San Bernardino lines, according to the report. Those without a Metrolink fare face fines up to $1,500. "We are cracking down on fare evading. We absolutely do have an issue," Lustgarten said. Metrolink has hired security officers to roam the silver trains and ask passengers to show their tickets. The crackdown will begin in full July 1, he said, when 75 percent of trains leaving Union Station will be checked by security officers. |
|
|
| (1229947) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by MainR3664 on Wed Jun 19 06:45:31 2013, in response to No more free rides on LA subways, posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 05:25:11 2013. Necessary move, I suppose. I don't think they'll ever be able to achieve 100% compliance...but when people see others getting busted, it helps the message sink in... |
|
|
| (1229961) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Nilet on Wed Jun 19 09:45:03 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by MainR3664 on Wed Jun 19 06:45:31 2013. 100% compliance = force field. |
|
|
(Sponsored) |
iPhone 6 (4.7 Inch) Premium PU Leather Wallet Case - Red w/ Floral Interior - by Notch-It |
|
| (1230052) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 18:21:19 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by Nilet on Wed Jun 19 09:45:03 2013. by force |
|
|
| (1230198) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Thu Jun 20 14:38:31 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by MainR3664 on Wed Jun 19 06:45:31 2013. no free transfer from the gold line to the red line |
|
|
| (1230211) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by nh153 on Thu Jun 20 16:17:28 2013, in response to No more free rides on LA subways, posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 05:25:11 2013. Well, the headline really wasn't correct. There were no free rides. You always had to pay. But there were no turnstiles. Similar to the Select Buses in NYC, you had to have a ticket if a cop asked you to prove you paid. Same thing on NJ Transit's light rail and most light rail systems.It's not really an honor system because I've seen cops pull riders off the San Diego Trolley when they couldn't provide a receipt. I didn't see if they were actually arrested or just had to pay a fine at a booking location. Luckily the Staten Island Railway really is a free ride, apart from a couple of stations. There are no turnstiles at most stations and nobody will ask you to show a receipt. I hope LA doesn't give SIR any ideas. (The only SIR stations that require MetroCard or a bus transfer are St. George and recently they added Tompkinsville, a short walk from St. George. All other stations are free, IIRC.) |
|
|
| (1230221) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by davesgcr on Thu Jun 20 17:15:11 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 18:21:19 2013. If you lose about 5% of revenue by "free riding" - then that seems reasonably OKBalance between collecting everything - cost wise through revenue protection and so on. We had fare "leakage" of over 30% on some lines in the UK when station staffing was reduced and "on train" checking installed - the latter turned out to be an easy operational cost "saving" resulting in high fare avoidance and would you believe it higher anti-social activity (which drove down off peak travellers) Higher levels of "gating" , penalty fares for ticketless travellers etc has basically improved things - but you still see around £240 Million a year lost - out of a £3 Billion revenue take across the country. |
|
|
| (1230225) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jun 20 17:26:25 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by davesgcr on Thu Jun 20 17:15:11 2013. Way more than five percent. |
|
|
| (1230360) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by italianstallion on Fri Jun 21 15:57:11 2013, in response to No more free rides on LA subways, posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 05:25:11 2013. Those turnstiles look easy to jump. |
|
|
| (1230397) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Fri Jun 21 20:26:20 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by italianstallion on Fri Jun 21 15:57:11 2013. prob so |
|
|
| (1230399) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Fri Jun 21 20:28:41 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by nh153 on Thu Jun 20 16:17:28 2013. thanks for the info |
|
|
| (1230434) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Spider-Pig on Fri Jun 21 22:57:36 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by italianstallion on Fri Jun 21 15:57:11 2013. They look just like PATH turnstiles. |
|
|
| (1230439) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Jersey Mike on Fri Jun 21 23:12:09 2013, in response to No more free rides on LA subways, posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Wed Jun 19 05:25:11 2013. I guess they managed to fix the problem with TAP compatibility. Funny because on the 19th I was in Union Station making an Amtrak connection and couldn't go down to the Metro platform to take pics because of the new policy.BTW why do they call it an "honor system". POP is not an honor system. |
|
|
| (1230443) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Easy on Fri Jun 21 23:31:35 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by Jersey Mike on Fri Jun 21 23:12:09 2013. What did you think of the improvements to Union Station? More food options for sure. Big plans for the future. |
|
|
| (1230453) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by Jersey Mike on Sat Jun 22 00:27:08 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by Easy on Fri Jun 21 23:31:35 2013. Was interesting to see how it stacked up to Chicago's Union Station at the same time in terms of crowds. The major deficiency of LA Union is that it lacks an adjacent downtown. |
|
|
| (1230467) | |
Re: No more free rides on LA subways |
|
|
Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Sat Jun 22 02:08:12 2013, in response to Re: No more free rides on LA subways, posted by Spider-Pig on Fri Jun 21 22:57:36 2013. agreed |
|
|
