Every year, light rail ridership continues to increase, but there still remains a number of riders who don’t bother to pay their fare.
Susan Tierney, communications director for Valley Metro, said more than 14 million people rode the light rail in 2014.
Of that number, 95 percent of riders paid their fare, which still leaves a 5 percent fare evasion rate, Tierney said.
Five teams of two officers each inspect fares along the light rail system during its hours of operation, said Tierney.
However, the light rail operates on an honor code system. People are expected to have a pass, but that is not always the case.
Because tickets are not always checked on every passenger’s ride, some riders will cheat the system to get out of paying for a light rail fare.
“Our fare inspector teams continue to engage riders by issuing a warning on the first offense, educating them on why it’s important to have a fare and then enforcement through citations,” Tierney said.
The citations can range from $50 to $500, according to valleymetro.org.
“Since July 2013, Phoenix passed an ordinance whereby fare inspectors can issue citations, increasing our ability to cite riders without a fare,” Tierney said.
Kendall Cavaletto is a law student at ASU and a frequent light rail rider. Cavaletto took the light rail from 19th Avenue and Montebello to the Tempe campus five days a week for her classes there.
Of the roughly 50 times she boarded the train, her pass was checked about 80 percent of the time, she said.
“Being there for an hour gave them more opportunities to check,” Cavaletto said. “Whereas the people who are only on it for 15 to 20 minutes are likely get checked less often.”
One possible reason for the ticket evasion could likely be the lack of change people have to buy a ticket, she said.
“A lot of them seem to be homeless and just don’t have money to spare,” Cavaletto said.
Along with financial reasons, people do not pay because they do not think they will be caught.
Some passengers will just get off the next stop when they see officers board the train to check tickets, Surprise resident Joseph Cestaro said.
“They know their chance of getting caught is slim,” Cestaro said.
Cestaro said he rides the light rail to go to sporting and music events, so he has only taken the train about six times.
“I’ve never even seen a security officer on the light rail, much less gotten my ticket checked,” he said.
Reach the reporter at mrowboth@asu.edu.
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