New study casts doubt on BART's fare evasion focus
As a transit agency that relies heavily on fare collection, BART is focusing on preventing fare evasion. But a new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of stopping freeloaders to improve public safety on the trains.
In 2020, BART asked the non-profit Center for Policing Equity to evaluate how well BART Police interacted with the ridership. Now, with BART spending $90 million in its quest to combat fare evasion as a way of increasing public safety, it paid for a new study. The results weren't exactly complimentary.
"Some folks will say, A plus B equals C. So, in this case, not paying the fare will result in loss of income and violence or disorder on the train," said CPE vice president Hans Menos. "Unfortunately, science needs more than that intuitive connection, right? We need a little bit more, and I don't think that's necessarily present. Our findings suggest that it isn't present."
On Monday, crews were installing the new evasion-resistant gates at the Pleasant Hill station, and they're already up and running in Lafayette. But the study, released last week, accuses BART of not having an accurate understanding of fare evasion, from both a financial and public safety perspective.
It concluded: "... BART's focus on fare evasion recovers minimal revenue, may be addressing an overstated problem, and is not effective at curbing incidents that make riders feel uneasy in the system." Menos said there also didn't appear to be any clear strategy behind BART's efforts.
"An unscientific, not clearly communicated approach that focuses on the idea that fare evaders are A, costing them a lot of money, which we did not find evidence on, and B, creating a lot of crime, which again we did not find evidence on. So, absent those two approaches, why they are doing this remains very unclear."
CPE, which focuses on social justice issues, said the big problem is not the gates, but the stepped-up efforts of BART police in fining or arresting people, often minorities, for evading the fares. One BART rider also sees a difference between crime and fare evasion, but he favors more enforcement.
"I still see people forcing themselves through the new gates at Civic Center. So, it doesn't matter what kind of gates they have. They still try their way to get in," said BART rider Junius Setiawan. "I think they're better off getting more people in the train, you know, checking tickets or whatnot, or ambassadors on the trains, rather than these gates. I don't see the point of these gates."
BART refused to go on camera on Monday, but in a statement, it said that despite the study findings, it doesn't plan to change its approach.
"These new gates serve as a powerful deterrent against fare evasion and as a result will reduce the number of interactions between BART PD and would-be fare evaders," the statement said. "We look forward to new fare gates being installed at all 50 BART stations by the end of this year."
In the past, BART has claimed that it loses $25 million a year to fare evasion, a number it backed away from on Monday. But BART insists the fare gates are working and claims a 17% drop in crime last year. If BART is concerned about people not paying to ride, they really won't like the suggestion of a rider named Irene from Martinez.
"It's another way of stopping people who need a service, who can't afford it, not to get it. You know, to make sure they don't get it," said Irene. "My opinion is that there are things that should be free. Housing should be free, food should be free, education should be free, transportation should be free."
That's not how BART sees it. And whether or not there's a scientific connection between fare evasion and bad behavior, it's something BART is willing to take on faith.
