Maybe the Q-Card system could also solve Houston's crime problem?
In his Move It column today, the Chronicle's Rad Sallee (or, as Chron.com misspells it today, Rod Sallee) runs a reader comment on the Danger Train's "honor system" method of fare collection:
Jerry Ritcheson thinks he knows how Metro's light rail boardings have doubled since 2004, while revenue from the ticket vending machines has hardly changed.
"The Metro cops DO NOT enforce the ticketing of those who don't pay," he wrote in an e-mail. "Until they put turnstiles in, the practice will continue."
Metro says spot checks show that the rate of cheating is around 1 percent, but that can be tough for an observer to believe. You can ride the train a great many times before seeing anyone's ticket being checked.
Like so many other things, though, the long-awaited Q Card fare system should change that when it comes out later in the summer.
Huh?
Unless the Q Card system miraculously causes the appearance of secured platform access via turnstiles, it's hard to see how the Danger Train's "honor system" of fare collection is going to change much at all when/if the Q Card system ever becomes functional.
UPDATE: Rad Sallee emails to note that what he meant was that the Q Card should provide a better way to count paid boardings, not that it would necessarily cut down on unpaid boardings.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/11/07 11:00 PM | Print |
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