The D.C. Council will put a spotlight on an issue many riders have seen on Metro: people hopping fare gates and riding without paying.
Now, some lawmakers want to make it easier for police to issue fines when somebody jumps the gates in D.C.
Metro said fare evasion happens about 40,000 times every day within the transit system.
Since the District decriminalized fare evasion in 2018, fines for evasion in D.C. are $50. In Maryland and Virginia, the fines are up to $100, and evasion is considered a criminal offense.
If transit officers see someone evading payment, they can write a ticket. But in D.C., the person wouldn’t be required to identify themselves.
D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto explained to the News4 I-Team that current District law makes it easy to evade a fare evasion ticket.
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“Right now, if somebody jumps the turnstile and transit police say, ‘Hey, you can't do that. I need your name,’ the person can just walk away from them,” Pinto said.
That is what some lawmakers and Metro officials want to change.
Lawmakers are holding a public hearing Wednesday on the Metro Safety Amendment Act of 2023 in the Wilson building downtown.
The bill would require anyone stopped for fare evasion to provide their true name and address to the officer who stops them. If the person refuses, they could be detained and fined up to $100.
Metro says they lose tens of millions of dollars every year because of the fares that go unpaid by people who hop the gates.
“People that jump over, they’re stealing,” Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Anzallo said.
And 97% of the people who commit a violent crime on Metro also fare evade, Anzallo said.
Metro has been fighting fare evasion and trying to bring back ridership that plummeted during the pandemic. But riders' safety concerns are among the obstacles.
Metro says new, taller fare gates have slashed fare evasion at the stations where they’ve been installed, including an 84% decrease at Mount Vernon Square.
