Fewer Cheaters Found Riding Trolley for Free

More people are riding the San Diego Trolley, but the number of riders trying to cheat the fare box is down, Metropolitan Transit Development Board officials say.

About 1.2% of the 5.9 million riders so far in 1985--or an estimated 71,185 people--boarded without paying the correct fare, said Dan Portuguez, an MTDB fare collection supervisor. That number contrasts with 1.5% of the 5.6 million riders--or 85,225 people--who were freeloaders on the trolley in 1984, he said.

MTDB officials credit the diminishing number of fare violators to the addition of four fare inspectors, for a total of nine. The inspectors make unannounced spot checks of trolley riders; they are unarmed, and can make arrests and issue citations, Portuguez said.

“With the increase of inspection, there is a decrease of fare evadership,” Portuguez said.

Last year, MTDB officials said they feared that the number of trolley freeloaders was increasing. Trolley tickets, costing 50 cents to $1.50, are purchased from self-service machines stationed at every trolley stop between downtown and San Ysidro.

Portuguez also credited “saturation coverage” for making the difference in people riding without paying the correct fare. The goal is to inspect tickets of 28% to 30% of daily ridership, he said.

“Some areas give us more problems, and so do certain times of the day,” Portuguez said. “I’ll put extra inspectors on at different points and at different times of the day . . . . Our biggest problems are during Fridays and Saturdays between 4 p.m. and 12 p.m.”

Inspectors arrest eight to 10 people a month for fare violations. Arrest warrants are issued for those who have outstanding citations for previous fare violations.

“Inspectors recognize people who are consistently cited and run a warrants check on them,” said Portuguez.

Portuguez said it would be a “misnomer” to call the current ticket-purchasing system an “honor system” because “a true honor system has no spot checks at all. A self-service system means that riders are checked on a daily basis to make sure they have the correct fare.”

MTDB officials also find that crime on the trolleys is minimal, mainly limited to vandalism.

“It’s fair to say there really haven’t been any out and out violent crimes,” said Peter Tereschuck, who is in charge of security on the trolleys. “We occasionally have disturbances on the train, minor interactions between passengers, some accosting of passengers and asking for money, and some pickpocketing and purse-snatching, but there are only a few isolated reports of this occurring throughout the last few years . . . . We are not concerned about it.”

However, for the holidays, Tereschuck plans to “beef up security. There will be four additional security people patrolling the system; three in South Bay and one in the downtown area,” he said.

There are now 10 security officers and four assistant officers working within the system, Tereschuck’s office said.