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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]Whatincentive does anyone have to actually pay for a metro card?  That’s an odd way to govern a city.  Broken windows theory ....[/quote]

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding on the topic of fare evasion. Previously, this was a criminal activity, which meant that you could go to jail and earn criminal record for doing it. The DC Council decriminalized it. That does not mean that fare evasion is legal, but rather that it is now a civil violation punishable by a $50 fine. So, to answer your question, the incentive to pay for a metro card is to avoid a $50 fine. It is now similar to a parking violation. If you park in a metered space but don't pay for parking, you do not face the possibility of going to jail. Rather, you will likely be ticketed and  fined.  Notice that nobody posts questions in this forum asking about the incentive for paying for parking. 
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Wouldn’t a better analogy be someone parking in a parking garage (example parking garages at the Wharf) and then not paying upon leaving the garage?  Not sure how you could get a car to get through the guard gate and exit a parking garage without paying but assuming that is possible...

I would assume the parking garage owner could call the police if you did this.

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I don't think that is a better analogy primarily because it depends on a hypothetical assumption.  Because cars can't get through gates without damaging them, laws have not been written to account for cars leaving parking garages by magically passing through the gate. Moreover, I don't understand the distinction you make between not paying for garage parking which you consider a crime and not paying for a metered space which you don't consider a crime. Why do you consider these different violations?

What about garages that have metered spaces instead of gates? Is failure to pay in that case a crime for which you should be jailed or a civil violation for which you should be ticketed?

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