Sporadic, inconsistent security beleaguers METRORail system

By Christine Pao     2/11/10 6:00pm

I have a love-hate relationship with the METRORail. On one hand, I can't live without it. I don't have a car, and when the hospitality of other drivers runs dry, I rely on the METRORail to get around. With a simple tap of my METRO Q Fare Card, the rail rapidly ferries me to my destinations of choice: My beloved Tacos A Go-Go, the Angelika, the museum district and several other prominent Houston locations are just a few stops along the track. The METRORail is relatively quick and easy, and best of all, free for Rice students.

But on the other hand, it's easy to see that the light rail system is deeply flawed. The trains, powered by coal-generated electricity, are terrible for the environment. The light rail is notoriously dangerous. The METRORail has a history of high crash rates, with the 2004 rate being 25 times higher than the national average according to the Houston Chronicle, although rates are improving. But apart from these dangers, which could spawn entirely different stories on their own, the issue of METRO's enforcement of paid ridership is also troubling.

Because Rice provides each student with his or her own Q Card, riding the METRORail should be fairly simple, right? Not always. New students, whether freshmen or transfer students, may not realize that they are entitled to these free cards - available at the Cashier's Office - or may sometimes forget them in the hustle and bustle of a night out. These students can still be given citations, despite the fact that the university has an already-purchased store of Q Cards to hand out. Often in these cases, Rice students are fined, subject to disbelieving METRO Police officers.

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But the problem of the METRORail's strange policies extends beyond our student body. While rail and train systems in other states employ full-time transit officers to check for paid fares and ensure general safety, the METRO Police Department sporadically sends its officers to random railway stops to check tickets. Without constant, consistent enforcement of its policies, the METRORail system allows riders to bypass paying the fare - that is, until they receive exorbitant citations and are discouraged from ever riding the light rail again.

It is possible that, if you're lucky, you can ride the rail regularly, never paying for a single ticket. Yet using the very same system, it is also possible that you can forget to purchase a ticket just once and receive a citation with a ridiculous fee attached. It is unfathomable to me why some innocent (albeit careless) people must pay absurd fines to make up for the money METRO loses to people who take free rides on a regular basis.

I suppose the METRO Police Department employs this system of inconsistent enforcement in order to scare passengers into paying a fare for every ride they take. I can see how administering limited security on railway platforms might save money compared to employing full-time officers who check tickets on trains. And the very possibility of receiving an unreasonably expensive citation probably scares enough people into paying fare.

But without a steady form of security, the METRO Police punish only a select, unfortunate few who may not be the most frequent perpetrators, especially because the riders who regularly succeed in avoiding paying the fare are likely the ones who have figured out ways to bypass the penalty system.

I understand that, in theory, unpaid METRO riders should be punished, as they are effectively stealing from the public. Yet while most shoplifters receive only warnings for their first offense, first-time unpaid riders on the light rail receive $75 fines.

The METRORail's issues with unfair fining and sporadic enforcement can be rectified with simple preventative measures. Why not commission an officer or two on each train to consistently check tickets? As an added benefit, these officers will be able to monitor and manage the safety of passengers within each train. This is a system that has been successfully implemented in railways across the country, such as in Pennsylvania, and would undoubtedly work well in Houston.

As of now, the Metropolitan Transit Authority is focusing all of its funds toward expansion of the light rail, with four new routes slated to be completed by 2012. With its budget concentrated on these new routes, there may be little money to spare for increasing security. But I hope that the METRO will soon see the error of its ways, and enact much-needed reform of its enforcement procedures.

Christine Pao is a Martel College sophomore and Thresher opinion editor.

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