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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][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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Because street parking doesn’t start off by taking a ticket or passing through a turnstile. [b] One can accidentally fail to pay for parking on the street by misreading a meter or losing track of time.[/b]  One cannot accidentally jump a turnstile to evade fare.

I don’t think any parking violations should be considered criminal activity.   Do I think jumping a turnstile and evading metro fare should be considered criminal?  Yes.

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I think this is an important difference.  You can't accidentally get onto Metro without paying.  [/quote]

+1.

Plus, let's compare the behavior of those two separate group of people after they don't pay.

Which one is a proven and repeated threat to public safety, and which one isn't?[/quote]

If you are a fare jumper, and don't get into any other trouble, then maybe it's NBD.

But if you are a fare jumper, and then going on to commit crimes on Metro, then that should be taken into consideration, IMO.

Impossible to really tell either way.  So, make it a crime to fare jump.  Because, it IS a crime.  Or, at the very least, enforce the fines that are in place.

It's easier for the police to give my car a parking ticket.  Easy for the police to get me on a speed camera.  Harder for Metro PD to run after people who jump turnstyles.  [/quote]

It's not hard at all.

You probably are aware that DC is not the only city in the world with a metro system, correct?[/quote]

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