Passengers who attempt to ride public transit in Washington, D.C., without paying could be slapped with hefty fines to address $40 million in lost revenue, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced this week.
Metro officials initiated a new campaign earlier this week warning customers they could be subject to fines of up to $100 if they are caught trying to ride public transit without paying the mandatory fare. The warning campaign will last through October, and starting in November, Metro police officers will begin writing tickets and issuing fines, the agency announced Tuesday.
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“The region needs to decide what we want Metro to be, and fare policy should be part of the conversation,” WMATA General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke said. “Many people have mentioned going to a fare-free model, but fare-free does not mean free. There are costs associated with running the community’s transit system, and therefore, the necessary revenues must exist to deliver the services the community needs.”
We’re launching a warning campaign aimed at deterring fare evasion starting today, October 4. Find out the details here: https://t.co/drn8JS69jb pic.twitter.com/QhdZwi5MBn
— Metro (@wmata) October 4, 2022
Fare evasion has emerged as a top concern among Metro customers and threatens the agency from keeping its buses and trains running, according to WMATA officials. Fare evasion has also contributed to significant revenue losses for the agency, causing a $185 million shortfall in next year’s budget.
Metro relies on fare revenue to maintain its bus and rail service, and the agency has faced threats from regional leaders to withhold subsidies if WMATA doesn’t address its fare evasion problem.
To enforce fare payment, WMATA will allow the Metro Transit Police Department to begin issuing citations to riders who are caught evading fares in train stations and on buses. Police officers have been writing tickets for fare evasion occurring in Maryland and Virginia for years, but officers in the district have not had the ability to do so until this warning campaign was established.
Additionally, Metro officials will begin experimenting with ways to deter gate-jumping at train stations by implementing “faregate modifications” such as tactile deterrents on top of gates and higher barriers, according to the agency. Prototypes for these measures will be installed over the coming months, and riders can begin providing feedback to WMATA officials early next year.
Critics have long argued against punishing riders for fare evasion, arguing it disproportionately affects low-income and black residents. As a result, the D.C. Council voted to decriminalize fare evasion in 2018, later becoming only a civil offense in 2019.
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Since then, transit police have dramatically stepped away from enforcing fare evasion, only reporting 297 related citations or arrests in 2021 — a 98% drop from the 15,000 that were recorded in 2017, according to police records. Of the 297 recorded in 2021, none occurred in Washington, D.C.
Others have argued the system criminalizes poverty. However, the city has sought to address these concerns by announcing a proposal that would give district residents up to $100 a month to use for public transit within the city.
