Let’s try this: No fare, no ride

Re “Fare dodgers trouble Metro,” Jan. 30

I was positively gleeful when I read this article.

The Expo Line train was built on an old freight train right-of-way. Same for the Crenshaw Line being built. Same for the Orange Line — but we got stuck with a busway that takes nearly 40 minutes to travel 11 miles from Tarzana to North Hollywood, consistently gets stuck at red lights and has a ridership that was so underestimated that many riders have to wait for a second bus.

I don’t approve of theft, but Metro deserves this. The Orange Line is an insult to San Fernando Valley residents and is a glaring example of how we indeed get treated like second-class citizens.

David Fritz

Reseda

I work in Silver Lake, yet I would never consider taking the Orange Line part of the way because it is ridiculously slow and crowded. Still, I have had to take the Orange Line before, and I believe that the estimate that 25% of riders were not paying the fare is too low.

When putting a fare on my TAP card at the kiosk, I am usually the only person doing so. I have often wondered about the other riders; could they all have paid the fare or are they just cheating the system?

When I was a kid growing up in Atwater Village, my friends and I would take the bus to “cosmopolitan” Glendale. If you didn’t pay the fare, the driver would not let you on the bus. The Orange Line needs to adopt the same rules: no fare, no ride.

Now if only Metro could make the trip faster.

Christy Edwards

Woodland Hills