From Newsgroup: rec.aviation.military

the key to this "unenforcement system" is:
"Metro didnrCOt design this system on its own; the King County Council
did. And the CouncilrCOs concern, documented in the report and in MetrorCOs own public statements, is that actual enforcement, real citations, and
real consequences might fall unevenly across racial groups. So they
built a system where fare enforcement officers arenrCOt really there to enforce. TheyrCOre there to connect riders to resources. To educate and
build what Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer calls rCLa culture of riding right.rCY

from
https://mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion/king-county-fare-enforcement/4228805

Harger: King County hired 30 fare enforcement officers. They worked 40K
hours, issued 8 citations, and voided all of them
Apr 16, 2026, 6:41 AM

BY CHARLIE HARGER Host, Seattle's Morning News
I read a story in The Urbanist this week about King County MetrorCOs fare enforcement program. It was so over the top, I read it twice, then
pulled the actual report to the King County Council, thinking there was
no way it could be true.

Welp.

King County Metro fare enforcement 2025: 30 officers, 2,186 warnings, 8 citations, zero resolved
Metro restarted fare enforcement on buses last May. Hired 30 full-time
fare enforcement officers. Between May and the end of December, those 30 officers worked roughly 40,000 combined hours.

HererCOs what that bought us:

2,186 warnings issued. Eight citations. Zero resolved. Zero fines
collected. Zero suspensions. Zero criminal trespass charges.

The fine, if anyone had actually paid it, would have been $20.

The budget for this program in 2026 is $3 million.

Take a moment with those numbers. Thirty full-time employees. Forty
thousand hours. Eight citations. Every single one voided. Three million dollars budgeted for next year.

Why King County Metro voided all 8 fare evasion citations
MetrorCOs explanation, straight from the official report to the King
County Council: riders gave bad contact information. No phone number. A shelter address. An address that didnrCOt exist. No way to follow up. So
the eight citations were canceled.

ThatrCOs the mechanical reason. But the structural reason goes deeper.

Metro didnrCOt design this system on its own; the King County Council did.
And the CouncilrCOs concern, documented in the report and in MetrorCOs own public statements, is that actual enforcement, real citations, and real consequences might fall unevenly across racial groups. So they built a
system where fare enforcement officers arenrCOt really there to enforce. TheyrCOre there to connect riders to resources. To educate and build what Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer calls rCLa culture of riding right.rCY

rCLFare enforcement is one part of a multi-pronged strategy to build a
culture of rCyriding rightrCO, connect all riders to fares that are
affordable to them, and to help Metro fund service,rCY Switzer told The Urbanist. rCLThe job of fare enforcement is to connect with riders who
have not paid, educate them about the consequences of nonpayment in the future, and, most importantly, to make sure they understand MetrorCOs expectations and create access to fares that are affordable to them.rCY

Most importantly, no citations or fines, but awareness.

SeattlerCOs equity defense: why King County canrCOt enforce its own fare rules A guy named Ryle Goodrich posted something on X this week that cuts
right to it.

rCLThe best hiding spot for every bad decision in this county is right
behind an equity defense,rCY he wrote. rCLWhy canrCOt we have safe transit? Educate our kids? Get more for our taxes? Get people off the streets and
into shelter? Well, that wouldnrCOt be equitable.rCY


Sandeep Kaushik, a longtime Democratic political consultant in Seattle, responded.

rCLEquity, understood correctly, can identify real systemic problems worth fixing,rCY he said. rCLBut applied in a blunt way, where any policy that produces different outcomes between groups is automatically
disqualified, equity becomes a destructive idea.rCY

ThatrCOs exactly what happened here.

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King County Metro fare evasion rate: who actually pays the price
At least 35% of riders arenrCOt paying the fare. We know that. The people
who are paying are the ones getting taken advantage of.

The working mom in Rainier Beach who loads her ORCA card every month.
The student at Seattle Central who pays full fare because nobody told
her she didnrCOt have to. The senior on a fixed income who taps in every single time. They are doing the right thing every day.

And what does the system say to them? It says: we hired 30 people,
worked 40,000 hours, and made sure nobody felt bad about not paying.


$3 million King County Metro fare enforcement budget in 2026: for what, exactly
The report is careful and bureaucratic and full of the language yourCOd expect. It talks about rCLhistorically marginalized communities.rCY It talks about rCLaddressing institutional harm.rCY It talks about building fare enforcement rCLintentionally.rCY It mentions the FIFA World Cup.

What it doesnrCOt talk about is what happens to the budget when the fare revenue keeps not coming in. What happens to service. What happens to
the riders who pay every day and watch others walk on for free.

King County hired 30 full-time fare enforcement officers. They worked
40,000 combined hours between May and December. Eight citations. Zero resolved. Three million dollars budgeted for 2026.

Who is that equitable for, exactly?

Charlie Harger is the host of rCLSeattlerCOs Morning NewsrCY on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.
Follow Charlie on X and email him here.



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