Wrong Blue Line Transfer Costs 4 Seniors $360 Fine

Four senior citizens riding the Blue Line commuter train on a Southern California excursion were ejected from the train and fined $90 apiece for having the wrong transfer tickets.

“The charge was fare evasion,” said Willard Zahn, who arranged the train trip to show out-of-town friends the charms of Los Angeles.

“For a mistake of 20 cents, we pay $360. We’re a real bunch of ancient desperadoes, all right,” Zahn said Monday.

The foursome boarded a bus in Long Beach on Nov. 19 and asked for a transfer to the Blue Line light rail system. Then they settled onto the Blue Line train.

A sheriff’s deputy suddenly appeared to check their transfers and it was learned that the bus driver apparently gave them plain bus passes instead of the Blue Line “interagency pass.”

Although the difference between the passes is only 5 cents, the group was ejected from the train and each was slapped with a $90 fine.

“We get a lot of cases like that,” said Linda Springer, a clerk at Compton Traffic Court. “I’d say 40 a week. A lot of people complain because they’re unaware of the rules.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Anda said there are specific laws dealing with transit systems and railroads.

“The fines are set by the courts,” he said. “Our policy is if you don’t have the right transfer, it’s a violation of the law. How many times can you allow people to say they’ve just got the wrong transfer?”

In addition to rules on transfers, California Penal Code Section 640 makes it illegal to eat, drink or smoke on train platforms.

At least 1,200 people have been issued tickets for violating Section 640, Anda said. The number is probably much higher, because only a third of the tickets have been computerized by category.

Zahn said he will write a letter to the Compton judge who will hear his case. He wants it thrown out.

“Acknowledging that ignorance of the law may be no excuse, I feel that the differential between the offense and the fine is obscene,” Zahn said.