Enjoy those TriMet Fareless Square rides while you can kids, as of January 3rd it all comes to a screeching halt. TriMet voted 6-1 to eliminate free routes from downtown, citing “fare evasion” as the primary reason to kill off the largest free ride zone in the country. That means that those of you out there cheating the system have pretty much screwed the rest of us out of free rides through downtown – thanks a bunch for that. On the other hand, anyone who didn’t see this coming a mile away has been living under a rock for quite awhile now.
The Fareless Square idea has a lot of merit. The problem is that there’s no reasonable or efficient way to enforce payment of bus fare once people board the bus downtown and ride outside of the square itself. TriMet has essentially been giving thousands of people free rides for quite awhile now and obviously, with the economy being what it is, they just can’t afford to keep it up. Makes sense right?
It also stands to reason that the “entitled” among us are going to whine like fuck now that the free ride is gone. Go ahead, start whining. I live downtown, work downtown, and shop downtown – this policy will directly cost ME money and yet I’m fine with it. I hate to sound like a complete right-wing dick but come on, how long can the various services in our fair city continue to lose money before the whole infrastructure itself collapses? TriMet, like many other services in Portland, has been too nice to too many for too long and it had to end sooner or later. To hear or read that so many people are shocked by this is actually surprising to me. Yes, the economy sucks and this is going to impact a few people that relied on the ability to cheat the system – but unfortunately the honor system itself just doesn’t work in this day and age no matter how much we’d like it to. People are full of shit, get used to it.
A 6 to 1 vote. Not even close. And why would it be? TriMet has been hurting like everyone else and Fareless Square was a nifty idea ripe for abuse. So quit your goddamn whining, suck it up, and pay like everyone else. Those among us that were dishonest have ruined it for the rest of us. Blame them, don’t blame TriMet.
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A friend of mine suggested that, in light of the windfall that will be the elimination of fareless zones, TriMet should be offering late-hour service (bus AND max) like a real city. I’d think that’s an idea that could gain some traction.
I think it’s misguided. First off, it’s been working to some degree for years. In fact, there’s a huge risk if you get on downtown and ride outside of fareless square–when the inspectors board the bus you could get a hefty ticket. Maybe this enforcement is too hard–but, again, it used to work somehow. Perhaps they looked at fixing the issue other ways and found it unworkable.
I think this will have only one notable effect: people won’t hop the bus for short in-town rides.
You say the vote wasn’t close and it’s no surprise. But couldn’t they have addressed this long ago? I believe they’ve discussed it for years–but my point is only that there’s reason why it’s taken so long to go through.
Hope it helps tri-met. They need all the help they can get. I really do wish they thrive. Despite this misguided decision I’m still believe strongly in tri-met’s value.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HOMELESS AND THEIR CANS? WAAAAHHH!!
If you look at the big picture, charging fares is more expensive than providing free buses. The costs of auto need to be considered. Here are a few: medical costs from collisions, repairs from collisions, carbon emissions, oil-wars, traffic congestion, parking lots, noise, traffic enforcement, parking enforcement, stress, the list is long. Public transit is a public investment. The more people ride, the more successful the investment. People who never ride reap many benefits, just as people with no children benefit from public education.
Every last trouble maker on the MAX or the Bus that I’ve had the displeasure of riding with in the last 15 years has gotten on in the fareless square. That includes the fine young gentlemen who insist on taking up 5 spaces with their camping gear and their “service dog” pitbulls and refuse to move, even for quadraplegics.
Jerks aside, why should people outside of Multnomah county have to subsidize the fareless square with payroll taxes? How exactly is that fair?