Protests by a coalition of groups Thursday reinforced new Port Authority CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman’s decision to make reviewing the proposed policy to use armed police officers to enforce fare payment her first priority.
In her first action at her first staff meeting on Tuesday, Ms. Kelleman said Thursday, she asked for a review of fare evasion to determine whether the transit agency has a widespread problem. The coalition held demonstrations against treating fare evasion as a criminal matter rather than a civil issue at Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s office and the Gateway T station later Thursday.
The issue won’t become a factor until the agency switches to a cashless fare on the light-rail system, which isn’t expected until the second quarter of the year because a vendor is working through equipment problems for issuing day passes and ConnectCard updates. But Ms. Kelleman said she expects the agency to decide the enforcement policy before the cashless system begins.
“The issue is in front of us now,” Ms. Kelleman said after an authority board committee meeting. “As a planning person, I want to gather the information first and see what kind of problem we have. Then we have to decide what’s best for Allegheny County to deal with that.”
Once she reviews the information, Ms. Kelleman said, she will discuss the issue with staff and informal groups before recommending a policy. She said the policy probably will be decided long before the agency begins cashless fares on the light-rail system, which isn’t expected until at least April because a vendor is adjusting software for machines to issue day passes and ConnectCard updates.
Port Authority announced last spring that it would treat fare evasion as a criminal matter enforced by armed police officers. Violators would be subject to a $300 fine and a criminal background check would be conducted when a citation is issued.
The coalition, which includes Pittsburghers for Public Transit, the Thomas Merton Center, Casa San Jose and the Alliance for Police Accountability, has been lobbying for civil enforcement by unarmed fare checkers that would treat fare evasion like a parking fine. The groups say they fear there could be deadly confrontations with recent immigrants, public school students and mental health patients who don’t understand when armed officers approach them to check whether they paid their fare.
They also are concerned that failing to pay a $2.50 transit fare could lead to deportation if a background check finds the rider is in the U.S. illegally.
Laura Wiens, who heads Pittsburghers for Public Transit, called the review “great.”
“That’s what we wanted to hear,” she said.
Among the other issues that will get early attention, Ms. Kelleman said, are the concerns raised by Mon Valley residents who may lose some service if the agency receives federal funding to move ahead with the proposed $195 million Bus Rapid Transit system between Downtown and Oakland two years from now. Residents fear local service could be reduced as much as 40 percent; routes would end in Oakland and they would have to transfer to the BRT system to get Downtown; and there would be no direct Downtown service from their communities.
Ms. Kelleman said she probably will hold additional community meetings to assess needs in those neighborhoods.
For the next few months, Ms. Kelleman said, she’s using public transit to commute from the South Hills, meeting with groups of employees and visiting neighborhoods around the county to get a better understanding of local transit issues.
“We don’t own the system. The public owns the system, so we have to listen to what they want,” Ms. Kelleman said. “You’re going to hear that from me a lot.”
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: January 18, 2018, 5:39 p.m.
