Riders refuse to pay on more than one-third of all Metrobus trips

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

Why do you keep going on about this one woman you know. Yeah, she sounds like she's entitled and probably mentally ill, but I'm not sure why you think writing about her endlessly is making some kind of profound point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

Why do you keep going on about this one woman you know. Yeah, she sounds like she's entitled and probably mentally ill, but I'm not sure why you think writing about her endlessly is making some kind of profound point?

She applies to all of these different threads. New posters on different threads comment on how badly they need homes. It doesn't seem like they realize what happens after they move in next door. I'm just trying to give examples of why an apartment is a bad idea for everyone except the landlord. The new posters in different threads seem to have no insight to these issues.

The fare evasion isn't just a mental illness issue, but lawlessness. Some know they can get away with this crap in DC. I don't think SF CHI or NY have transit losses due to fare evasion anywhere near what DC has.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I wouldn't pay if I didn't have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think metro bus should be free and we should just allocate taxes to it. This is an expensive city and free public buses would be an investment in a mobile work force. We could require some form of ID so that only District residents could skip paying (not photo ID, but like a metro card that didn't require payment that was only available to residents). It wouldn't be perfect, but it would help people get around.

I used to work at a legal clinic for low income clients and it was not uncommon for people to struggle to come to court dates or other appointments because even finding a few dollars for the bus was a challenge.

I think the buses in Portland, OR are free. In San Francisco, Muni is free to all kids up to 18/hs graduation. They have a metro card they're supposed to "boop" so the city can track who's using the mass transit system and how often.

Its already free for kids in D.C.

It's free for kids but I've noticed that a huge number of the kids don't have their metro cards. Not sure if they get passed on to other relatives for free rides. Fine to give kids free rides but the problem is that they don't show up in the ridership counts and then WMATA keeps sending buses that are too small, and everyone's standing in the aisle like sardines.

[Anonymous]

There are probably some routes that are worse than others. Not sure why they don't send transit police to ride along on those buses to confront the non-paying riders.

[Anonymous]

I suppose Metro should triple fares. That should make up the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

Why do you keep going on about this one woman you know. Yeah, she sounds like she's entitled and probably mentally ill, but I'm not sure why you think writing about her endlessly is making some kind of profound point?

She applies to all of these different threads. New posters on different threads comment on how badly they need homes. It doesn't seem like they realize what happens after they move in next door. I'm just trying to give examples of why an apartment is a bad idea for everyone except the landlord. The new posters in different threads seem to have no insight to these issues.

The fare evasion isn't just a mental illness issue, but lawlessness. Some know they can get away with this crap in DC. I don't think SF CHI or NY have transit losses due to fare evasion anywhere near what DC has.

You do understand that people in permanent supportive housing programs get wraparound services too, right? The chronically homeless person given an apartment is not just left to their own devices. They’re assigned a social worker and given mental health services as needed.

[Anonymous]

Democrats are doing a swell job of leading and serving the people of DC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

Why do you keep going on about this one woman you know. Yeah, she sounds like she's entitled and probably mentally ill, but I'm not sure why you think writing about her endlessly is making some kind of profound point?

She applies to all of these different threads. New posters on different threads comment on how badly they need homes. It doesn't seem like they realize what happens after they move in next door. I'm just trying to give examples of why an apartment is a bad idea for everyone except the landlord. The new posters in different threads seem to have no insight to these issues.

The fare evasion isn't just a mental illness issue, but lawlessness. Some know they can get away with this crap in DC. I don't think SF CHI or NY have transit losses due to fare evasion anywhere near what DC has.

You do understand that people in permanent supportive housing programs get wraparound services too, right? The chronically homeless person given an apartment is not just left to their own devices. They’re assigned a social worker and given mental health services as needed.

This absolutely isn't true in DC. They are given apartments and left to their own devices, for the most part. Sure, they have a roof over their heads, and that's important. But a lot of them need so much more than that. Giving an unhoused mentally ill person housing does not magically cure their mental illness, as some DC Council members seem to fervently believe. It just makes them a housed mentally ill person.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-housed-the-homeless-in-upscale-apartments-it-hasnt-gone-as-planned/2019/04/16/60c8ab9c-5648-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html

[Anonymous]

Have they checked whether the fare machines were working? Because I take buses regularly, try to pay every time, and at least 25% of the time am waived through by the driver because the machine is broken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only should buses be free, but so should the subway. Gas should be free too, and the government should give away cars too. Restaurants should be free and so should stores.

There's probably a mean old rich guy somewhere who can pay for all the stuff we don't want to have to pay for, right?

If you want to ride the bus, stop being such a fcking pathetic mooch and pay to ride the fkcking bus.

Yes! This is what the woman who has lived at the bus stop for 30 years says all the time. Yes 30 years. She thinks the rich in ward 3 should buy her a free home because she's a "precious life". And "cuz she ain't got one" and "that's what BLM is about". You would lose your mind talking to her. It's the white man's fault. No personal responsibility. Everything is free, just take and do as you please.

Why do you keep going on about this one woman you know. Yeah, she sounds like she's entitled and probably mentally ill, but I'm not sure why you think writing about her endlessly is making some kind of profound point?

She applies to all of these different threads. New posters on different threads comment on how badly they need homes. It doesn't seem like they realize what happens after they move in next door. I'm just trying to give examples of why an apartment is a bad idea for everyone except the landlord. The new posters in different threads seem to have no insight to these issues.

The fare evasion isn't just a mental illness issue, but lawlessness. Some know they can get away with this crap in DC. I don't think SF CHI or NY have transit losses due to fare evasion anywhere near what DC has.

You do understand that people in permanent supportive housing programs get wraparound services too, right? The chronically homeless person given an apartment is not just left to their own devices. They’re assigned a social worker and given mental health services as needed.

So, they can't refuse to listen to the social worker and go to the mental health services? It's mandatory?

[Anonymous]

Just another example of a democrat run city that legalizes illegal behavior. Do you really need a slide ruler to figure out why crime is skyrocketing in blue cities? They tolerate this bullsh*t.

[Anonymous]

With Metro’s 90% funding gap and enormous excess capacity the system is basically broken. Unless ridership recovers it will need to be downsized. I can see smaller buses with lower frequency and fewer trains with less service. Every enormous bus I see going by has like five people on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just another example of a democrat run city that legalizes illegal behavior. Do you really need a slide ruler to figure out why crime is skyrocketing in blue cities? They tolerate this bullsh*t.

I am a democrat, but I agree with this. The whole push towards decriminalization of fare evasion has inevitable consequences in terms of undermining payment morale, with the result that, in the end, no one will pay.

It is time to recognize the "defund the police", get police out of schools, restorative justice etc. is an unmitigated disaster, and we have to react against it. A society depends on rules, and those rules must be enforced when they are evaded. Otherwise the consequence is not fairness, but chaos.