Transit police cracking down on subway fare jumpers
Riders must pay tickets to renew driver’s licenses
Fare jumpers on the T are increasingly facing a tough penalty: They cannot renew their driver’s licenses unless they pay their tickets.
Transit police have reported 455 people to the Registry of Motor Vehicles this year. The list has doubled since the T first started reporting delinquent riders to the registry in April.
“The idea is to add a hassle factor,’’ Daniel Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which runs the T’s buses, trains, and boats, said yesterday. “This isn’t something that you get a ticket and you can walk away.’’
Transit police are cracking down on fare evaders to increase revenues and enforce a 2007 law that gave the agency greater powers to curb scofflaws. The agency is eager to increase revenues because it is grappling with an $8 billion debt, which consumes about a third of its annual budget.
From January to June, T police issued 1,400 citations, compared with 1,376 in all of last year and 818 tickets in 2007.
The penalty for evading fares is $15 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense, and $250 for third or additional offense. Those who fail to pay are then referred to the Registry, a process that takes about 15 months because of appeals.
Riders who don’t pay a ticket could ultimately end up paying more than $200 in fines and fees to renew their licenses, Grabauskas said.
Yesterday, T passengers expressed mixed feelings about withholding a driver’s license as punishment.
“That’s crazy nonsense,’’ said a 21-year-old ponytailed woman from Dorchester who declined to give her name because she routinely avoids the fare by piggybacking behind friends. “I can’t drive my car because I didn’t pay $1.25?’’
Besides, she said of dodging fares: “Everybody does that.’’
But others said the crackdown would deter fraud - if only to avoid the embarrassment of being chased down by transit police.
“I don’t feel like having to deal with it,’’ said Nicholas Ferrara, a 19-year-old construction worker from Quincy, taking a drag on a cigarette after getting off the Red Line at the JFK/UMass stop. He said he always pays.
Richard Cruz, a 29-year-old graduate student at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said the T’s crackdown is a good idea, as long as it prevents fares from rising.
“There are set rules already, so it’s just a matter of implementing the rules,’’ he said.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the T’s fares are among the most affordable in the country - a bus ticket costs $1.25 while a subway ride costs $1.70.
Plus, Grabauskas said, if people don’t pay, it could result in higher fares for everyone.
“Customers get angry about it,’’ he said. “Customers complaining about other people getting away with a free ride is easily in the top five complaints we get.’’
About 1.2 million riders take the T every weekday. Nobody knows how much money the T loses to fare dodgers, but officials say it could be as much as 3 percent of annual revenues, which totaled $441 million last year. The CharlieCard system and the tougher law were both launched in 2007 to curb scofflaws.
But many riders still try to cheat the system. The worst offenders are on the Green Line, Pesaturo said, partly because many lines are above ground and it can be easier to slip aboard without paying.
Grabauskas said he hoped their efforts would increase overall safety on the T. Last month, officers stopped an alleged fare dodger in Quincy Center Station and discovered that he was wanted on multiple warrants for charges that included assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, drug possession, unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon, and receiving stolen property.
Some riders said the T’s fares aren’t as cheap as state officials think, especially for those on fixed incomes.
Tyson Jones, a 24-year-old construction worker, said he takes home about $300 to $400 a week, and often has to walk instead of taking the T because of the cost.
But when he rides, he always pays.
“There’s cameras and all,’’ he said with a laugh.
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com. 