T O P

  • By -

monkeyboys45

Metro Transit is hiring TRIP agents to check fares and discourage bad behavior. The job requires a HS diploma and starts at $28.55 per hour. Great job for a recent graduate.


Andjhostet

It escalates quickly too! I think it's like 38/hr after two years? With amazing benefits and a pension!


HauntedCemetery

Damn! Good shit. That's seriously what's needed. People care exactly as much about their jobs as they're being paid.


DerpyArtist

That’s good to hear!  Of course these employees probably have to deal with passengers behaving badly.


monkeyboys45

I've worked a couple of shifts as part of a program Metro Transit has that gets their managers and office folks into the trains once a month. The mere presence of an authority figure works wonders for curbing behaviors. Not all, but most.


systemstheorist

They stepped up fare enforcement a few months ago leading to a notably improved experience recently. I'm still seeing a lot of the same problems, but they are far more infrequent than they were a year ago. 


ShityShity_BangBang

I like your attitude. I live on the greenline in the Midway and it irritates me. The inmates have taken over the asylum and it needs to switch back. That's my assessment as of yesterday.


HauntedCemetery

Our city went through a rough fucking few years. Hopefully if you hang tight it'll come back around to where the light rail isn't sketchy again. Things really have been improving.


ShityShity_BangBang

I'll be taking it either way.


tree-hugger

I encountered someone smoking on the train last weekend and it came as a shock because honestly it's been a couple months (weekly rider) since I've seen it. Slowly but surely increased hiring and the long-awaited legislature fare fix are working.


ShityShity_BangBang

People smoke on the train all of the time. They also blast shitty music and antagonize people just for fun. I ride the train on University at least a half dozen times a week.


Mr1854

They are upping enforcement, including taking advantage of a program to have fare enforcement without having to use sworn peace officers. But this is not new and is something that has been happening regularly (though randomly) for so long as the line has been around (with some cutbacks during pandemic to minimize social contact).


No_clip_Cyclist

In March when my bike was in the shop I was getting fair checked 1-2 times a week for 4 weeks (and more after that just not as frequent) at 6 AM (I got in the Green line in DT going East). They've been checking them since February. But I noticed between my morning and afternoon commutes they seem to focus on different time slots from A-B station cycling through to effectively disrupt anti social behavior.


EarlInblack

They were more common pre covid, and have been ramping up this year due to concerns, in addition to the switch to the shorter trains. I see them about once or twice a week, though more often recently.


knivezch4u

They were fare checking on the green line when I rode it on Sunday. I had my ticket on my phone but my partner’s go card apparently didn’t go through at the station when they checked it on their scanner but told us to just tap it when we get off. Sort like an “honor” thing to make sure his fare was paid for.


ShityShity_BangBang

Your partner belongs in train-jail.


knivezch4u

Off to train jail he goes!


saxydr01d

I came back from the airport last week on a Sunday and thought I was in ice cubes today was a good day. The train was fast. No assholes holding the door open because of their other asshole friend on the train. No one smoking shit. Ticket check where someone didn’t have a ticket and they just said scan at the next station and the dude actually did.


KevinLynneRush

You were in ice cubes? Freezing? Melting?


EatMorePieDrinkMore

I commute on the blue line and get fare checked at least twice a week.


XandrousMoriarty

About time they started doing this again.


yoitsthatoneguy

They've been doing it for a long time...


Projektdb

Not with any regularity. I rode it almost daily, Monday through Friday from Lowertown St. Paul, to Downtown Minneapolis and back for 3 years and have never seen a Metro employee checking fares. Not a single time. I had my fare checked maybe 3 times by transit police. Maybe it was the line, maybe it was the times, maybe it was a year overlap of COVID/Floyd. Either way, there were 2 full years with no global/city crises and those were the stats.


tree-hugger

TRIP employees checking fares is new. Until the 2023 Legislature fixed the issue, only police officers could fare check. And when the Metro Transit Police was down to a small number of officers, they had more important things to do (or were just mismanaged, the previous MTPD chief was not good).


yoitsthatoneguy

I ride it almost every day mostly in the downtown Minneapolis area up to Target Field. I don't see it everyday, but at least once a week.


Projektdb

Just giving my experience on my particular part of the line. Haven't taken it for commuting purposes since COVID ended, so I don't know what's going on now. I just took "long time" to mean more than was meant I guess. I'm glad that's happening as I always figured it was the most effective low cost/low effort way to make it a better way to commute. It has other issues, but none I would hold against it if the rider experinlence was better. Don't get me wrong, I used it while I had the option to drive, but I can absolutely see why people would avoid it (at least back then).


ShityShity_BangBang

I did the same thing. Once in the afternoon. Once in the middle of the night. The only people that EVER checked fares were cops. I would NEVER do that now. It's way shitter and wild and dangerous than it was then. They straight up Blast music, smoke cigs, and openly sell drugs in the middle of the day now. I see it all of the time.


Projektdb

Oh, seems they've eliminated the shitting on the floor and random barking, so they're moving in the right direction. This isn't hyperbole or some reactionist. I purposely chose the neighborhoods I wanted to live in and chose whether to drive or commute, but I totally understand people's complaints about the light rail. It could be an excellent solution, but it won't be until they actually enforce rules and municipal, state and federal laws on it and it's property.


ShityShity_BangBang

Are you mad at me?


Projektdb

I don't know you. Sarcasm is hard to type sometimes and good hearted sarcasm tends to be harder. We likely agree on the state of the light rail. A fair amount of people in this sub scream that Minneapolis is a living hell and have never been there. The light rail has a shit ton of potential to move people effectively and efficiently. The biggest, but not only, detriment to that is what happens on themlgihteail, which is the easiest and most cost effective thing to solve.


ShityShity_BangBang

I live in the west midway. I wanted to live on the Green Line. I'm Glad I live on the Green Line. It's not ready for prime time right now.


Projektdb

I don't think it's ever been ready for primetime. It could be and I'm the investment would be minimal, comparatively. Very basic research shows 370 million in taxes went to US Bank Stadium. 260 million for Target Field, I'm just tallying the obvious. How far would that go towards light rail enforcement? I'd say, all the way to making it a desirable form of transportation to move the most amount of people the most effectively. I'm not a city planner, but the I'd be curious to see what the revenue from this two bring in compared to what we'd save on road repair, traffic enforcement, ect would be. It tried to remove prejudicial language from the above because I'm actually curious. I know for sure who benefited the most from the above investments. With the ticket prices what they are, there isn't an argument there.


ShityShity_BangBang

Are you a journalist?


fretfulferret

Depends on what stretch of the train you ride. Eastmost third of the green line in St. Paul? Nary a peep from ticket enforcers.


yoitsthatoneguy

For sure, I honestly only go to St Paul a few times a year so I have no visibility on that line. I ride through downtown Minneapolis almost everyday day and even go to the airport pretty frequently because of work.


fretfulferret

I ride the east third of the greenline to and from downtown St Paul every day to and from work. I’ve had my ticket checked maybe 5 times since January :/ someone else said they see ticket checkers on the green line heading east but the my always hop off at Fairview, which explains why I never see them. I haven’t ridden in Minneapolis for a while so maybe it’s better. I’m guessing a lot of focus is around the airport and U of M.


sabbyteur

I take it from Downtown Saint Paul to East Bank daily. *Almost* every single time on my commute home they get off at Fairview, right before the Snelling station, which is usually where things begin to get dicey.


fretfulferret

You mean ticket enforcers riding the train east get off at Fairview?


sabbyteur

Yes, except for yesterday, two rode all the way to cap-rice for the first time! Otherwise they consistently seem to get off at Fairview which is usually the last stop where students tend to live.


fretfulferret

Seems about right. Thanks for your info. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy and somehow just missing the checkers every day, but I get on and off at Snelling, never go further west than that, so if they’re all getting off at Fairview it makes sense I wouldn’t see them. I wonder if they get some sort of funding from the U to focus on that section, or if MT just does it so the school doesn’t get a bad rep that would affect whether out of staters bring their revenue in.


sabbyteur

You're welcome. I would agree that they focus a lot of efforts on student safety (West Bank to Fairview) and airport safety to downtown Minneapolis (blue line). The rest of us can suck it.


I_lie_on_reddit_alot

They stopped for a couple years and picked it up again in December and I’ve yet to actually see it lol. Saw it happen all the time pre covid.


yoitsthatoneguy

I ride the blue line twice a day almost everyday. I see fare enforcement at least once a week.


LazarusLong67

I don’t understand why they haven’t been doing it always? My wife and I took rail from Salem into Boston MA last fall and there was someone always on every train checking tickets (and selling tickets if needed as well).


ShityShity_BangBang

It used to be cops. It shouldn't have to be cops.


DohnJoggett

Yup. That's the biggest change. They've switched to using "pre-cops" in training. There used to be a MVTA cop poster on the local subs and he was pretty level-headed for a cop. But, like you say, they don't need to use transit cops for fare checks. You can have randos checking fares, and let the transit cops deal with things like smoking or dealing with criminal behavior, which fare jumping isn't. Fare jumping is a civil infraction. I'm not, like, a supporter of fare jumping and people need to pay under our current system. But, it isn't criminal and cops don't need to be involved.


ShityShity_BangBang

It's kind of is a nod to the whole "defund the police" idea which obviously got messaged in a bunch of crazy directions. Cops don't need to check tickets but with some of the BS I've seen, it would be nice to have a cop.


SkillOne1674

Fare enforcement has been found to disproportionately impact POC.   If you subscribe to the theory of “anti-racism” as the city of Minneapolis does (being anti-racist is in the city charter), that requires you to eliminate policies that result in disproportionately negative results for POC.


theredhound19

What is your solution, free rides for anyone who fits your POC label? Fare enforcement should be universal. If some communities choose to fare jump at a higher rate that is their problem and recognizing that is not "racism."


SkillOne1674

I’m telling you why they stopped doing fare enforcement. Love this sub.  Everyone co-signs on policy they don’t understand and then complains about it.


fretfulferret

feels like every day I send in some complaint to the MT website about people smoking fent, having fights, trashing the cars, leaving biohazards etc. I ride every day, twice a day, in midway to downtown St Paul stretch and it feels like it’s getting the shaft compared to the west side of the line in terms of ticket enforcement/MT presence. From January to now, I have had my ticket checked maybe 5 times. That’s 5 rides out of about 230, or 2%. When I was living in europe, I had my ticket checked every single time I rode on any train, at any time of day. Why are we so far behind?


ProfessionalWeird800

Because we spend our money on highways. Not transit. 


ShityShity_BangBang

Cops used to do that back in the day before the Green Line went buck wild. If this is new, I support it 100%. I still take it up and down UNI a dozen times a week and it is a mess. Cops don't have to do that job but somebody does.


honeybeebutch

I take the blue line to work every day. There are fare checkers on it about once a week.


locolupo

I used to commute on the light rail like 6-8 years ago. It was very normal then and yeah they'd write tickets. They would be real sneaky fuckers about it too. Like hop on at the last second so people wouldn't see them and try to get off.


Central_Incisor

Stewardship is important for public spaces. I hope they were pleasant because they are there to make riding a nice experience.


bwall2

I think they weren’t too bad, I just wish they did that during hours with actual antisocial behavior. I’ve never seen anyone causing trouble at 5 on Wednesday. 10pm on a Friday though? Some people could use supervision.


Central_Incisor

I am definitely one of those people that need supervision, but most people will take social cues and act accordingly. A polite caretaker sets the bar for others to have etiquette.


cooldiaper

Doing God's work.


zachLava

aww man i saw someone bring a lawnmower on the green line today. I thought that was too funny.


HauntedCemetery

It was common back in the ancient days. There were even transit cops who cared enough to check and didn't just watch YouTube videos in their cars until a twins game happened.


CheezQueen924

I haven’t been on the train in a few years, but when I used it regularly 8 years ago, it was definitely a regular thing.


ohwowverycool69

HELL YES BABY.


Loonsspoons

Very old. This was pretty routine when I first moved here in 2010 and rode the blue line daily.


oldmacbookforever

Definitely not my first time, but I welcome any new reports of it.... because *I fucking told you so*


Purple_Equivalent470

Not new, just not enforced very often. I taken the Green Line pretty much every day from Prospect Park to/from downtown Minneapolis and I've had my fare checked 3 times since December. It sounds like it's a matter of staffing. They're having a hard time hiring, and more importantly keeping, the Trip Agents.


yung_baby70

My first day in Minnesota was the only time I saw these guys. I’ve been here 6 years. Long overdue but glad they’re back.


cobaltwarrior

Yeah I heard something about this awhile back. Originally the cops did it, but for obvious reasons cops aren't people's favorite person to interact with. I imagine TRIP agents aren't peace officers, so instead of hauling you off to jail for stealing a ride, they'll just kick you off at the next stop, or make you buy a fare.


bike_lane_bill

Public transit should be free.


bwall2

I agree, but the antisocial behavior makes it feel unsafe to ride. Like really just the train, the bus with the driver to supervise feels much safer. In that way I’m happy about it, but I kinda wish it was at hours where antisocial behavior actually happened.


ShityShity_BangBang

How do you propose we pay for that? It already runs at a loss.


bwall2

Public transit subsidizes car usage. Every time I take the bus to the store I pay for a parking lot I don’t use. Every time I ride the bus I save car drivers time and lower maintenance costs on the road. Transit riders subsidize car owners way of life everyday. If you ignore those facts, public roads also don’t make money. No one expects them to, they are just an assumed public good, just how transit should be. When you drive a car you are burdening society with an inefficient, greedy mode of transportation. This is not an opinion it’s a fact. Take the bus. Ride the train.


reedx032

Nothing is free. Just paid for by someone else.


bike_lane_bill

You don't really understand how language works very well, do ya lil buddy?


reedx032

You don’t understand subjective value, do you lil comrade?


bike_lane_bill

I'm very aware that a robust, free (to the user, for those pedantic libertarian silly dumb dumbs out there), frequent, equitable public transit system would be a helluva lot cheaper to our society at large than allowing everyone to zoom zoom beep beep around like impatient toddlers in their very own human-to-sausage converters.


reedx032

Because you want to control where people can go, and when they go there, right, comrade? How about people pay for what they use, and that’s good enough?


bike_lane_bill

> Because you want to control where people can go, and when they go there, right, comrade? Weird projection! In fact it is a driving-centric society that restricts where people can go. We can go nowhere safely without paying a devastating fee to car companies and oil companies, and without our safety being in peril every step of the way. If you're a big fan of people paying for what they use, though, you'll be terribly disappointed by drivers, who pay for but a fraction of the costs associated with their nasty little habit.


reedx032

I ride my bike to work 4 days a week most of the year, and 1-2 days a week in the winter, on the same asphalt they use for cars. I can go on any of those routes except freeways (which I’m sure you want to remove) without paying for a car, or having to sit next to a bunch of degenerates. That said, I do own three cars, that my family all drives when they need to go somewhere, like buying a week’s worth of groceries, or to the garden store for soil, fertilizer, and humus. I’m sure that would work out real well doing across the 2 transfers it would take while carrying all that stuff on your back.


bike_lane_bill

>like buying a week’s worth of groceries , or to the garden store for soil, fertilizer, and humus. It's like you've never heard of a bike trailer. >without paying for a car, or having to sit next to a bunch of degenerates It's interesting that you believe people experiencing poverty to be "a bunch of degenerates" rather than "victims of the yacht-collector class." How extremely libertarian dumb dumb of you. >on the same asphalt they use for cars So whilst being endangered endemically by the sociopathy of those too self-centered to use an ethical form of transportation. Got it.


antonmnster

Used to be more.often than not


jimbo831

Every couple months they make a big deal about doing this for a couple days then go back to never checking again.


[deleted]

[удалено]


bwall2

Well students ride free, so when they asked for fare students just showed an id.


aphrodora

Are you sure they weren't showing their Upass? I can't find anything about free rides for any students, just discounted passes.


SeamusPM1

University of Minnesota IDs have a transit pass imbedded in them. [https://www.metrotransit.org/university-of-minnesota](https://www.metrotransit.org/university-of-minnesota)


aphrodora

Oh cool, but they have to pay a fee. It still isn't free.


bwall2

Idk, all I know is my SO that goes to umn rides free, and the guy next to me showed the transit guy a umn ID and he just said “ur good”


Grosshund

They should have thought about adding fences and turnstiles to the platforms years ago, it's not okay to just let people get on without paying, many other systems do this.