Star Tribune
Metro Transit steps up efforts to fine fare scofflaws
Metro Transit on Monday stepped up efforts to ensure riders on light-rail trains and buses are paying their fares, and began issuing fines to those who don’t.
A team of 12 community service officers fanned out along the Blue and Green lines to kick off the fare compliance program.
In four hours, the officers cited 23 passengers who did not show a valid form of payment, which includes Go-To Cards, paper transfers or tickets purchased on the Metro Transit app.
“I’m not surprised,” said Sgt. Kadra Mohamed with Metro Transit police, in a nod to the increase of unpaid riders who feel they won’t get caught.
Metro Transit has been lax in fare compliance checks in recent years. While more than 1,300 tickets were issued in 2019, that number dropped to 573 in 2020, 10 in 2021 and 49 in 2022. The agency has not had the staff to carry them out.
Bobby Lee of Minneapolis was cited because his transfer had expired. But he agreed that police should crack down on those who ride but don’t pay. He said checking fares could help keep people who do “bad things” off trains. “They should keep doing it.”
Lee was issued a $35 administrative citation, akin to a parking ticket, and has 90 days to pay. First-time fare dodgers like Lee can get their fines reduced by buying fares to be used later or by watching a video about transit expectations. They also can request a virtual or in-person hearing in hopes of having the citation dismissed.
The crackdown of fare scofflaws is the first part of a multipronged effort to beat back crime, connect those in need with social services and improve customer experience for all riders.
“Today is one step toward this,” said Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras. “We have a ways to go yet.”
Transit agency officials in June unveiled the Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP), and adding nonsworn community service officers to conduct fare checks is part of that. Metro Transit operating budget will cover the cost.
“I think it is a good idea,” said Larry Laqua of Williston, N.D., as he boarded a Green Line train at the Stadium Village Station near the University of Minnesota on Monday afternoon. When people don’t pay, “it’s going to cost somebody.”
‘Sad day for me’
An announcement over speakers at Stadium Village Station blared a warning: “Those attempting to ride without a valid fare may be fined.”
Renard Thompson, 61, of Minneapolis had a pass for riders who use transit to access medical appointments but was in a rush to get on a Green Line train Monday and didn’t swipe his card. He was issued a ticket.
“It’s important they do this, but this is a sad day for me” he said, noting he rides the train six days a week and was not avoiding paying his fare.
The word to riders is pay your fare, said Drew Kerr, Metro Transit spokesman. That includes tapping prepaid cards for each ride.
“We are issuing citations,” he said “The time for warning and education has passed.”
While initial fines are relatively low, penalties rise with each subsequent violation up to $100. Those cited four or more times can expect a 120-day ban from using public transportation. The citations won’t appear on criminal background reports, but unpaid violations may be referred to a collections process.
Most riders issued citations Monday on the Green Line took their tickets without much protest. But one man who had not paid swore at Mohamed, who said, “I won’t arrest you if you get off the train.”
In the past, only sworn officers could issue tickets carrying a misdemeanor bearing a possible $180 fine.
Transit officials are hoping that by having community service officers — members of the Metro Transit police who are on a path to law enforcement careers — enforce fares will free up sworn police officers to handle illegal behavior, which has been on the rise in recent years.
Drug and alcohol use, theft, smoking and homeless people sleeping on trains have all spiked since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Crime was up 66% in the first quarter of this year when compared with the same time frame in 2022. That led to plans to combat crime, including the fare-checking program.
Some progress has occurred. Crime declined 22% over the summer and into early fall, officials said last month.
Community service officers will be trained in how to respond to mental health issues, de-escalation, first aid, naloxone administration and CPR, the agency said.
Community service officers’ duties also include riding transit to help customers find their way, monitoring behavior and contacting police when they observe illegal behavior or an emergency.
Their deployment comes after the Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Transit, approved a $6 million contract with Allied Universal this summer to place unarmed security officers at the 35W/Lake Street station and five other locations. Guards also were placed at the Blue Line’s Lake Street/Midtown and Franklin Avenue stations, the Chicago-Lake Transit Center, and the Brooklyn Center Transit Center to help deter crime and report it.
Kerr said Metro Transit realizes some people may not have the means to pay, but also highlighted programs such as the Transit Assistance Program (TAP) that allows low-income earners to ride for $1.
One person on Monday successfully had their citation tossed out. The rider will put $5 on a TAP card and have their fine waived, Kerr said.
“We ultimately want people to pay fares,” he said.
Rider Hui Lin, who lives in Dinkytown and takes transit occasionally, is on board with that.
“They should crack down,” she said after buying a ticket Monday at Stadium Village and boarding an eastbound Green Line train.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
