Coalition concerned with how fares will be enforced

Port Authority to use armed police officers

A coalition of groups concerned about Port Authority’s plan to use armed police officers for fare enforcement is turning up the heat against the policy.

The coalition began gathering signatures on petitions at light-rail stations Wednesday and expects to begin collecting online signatures by the end of the week. In addition, there will be a public meeting at 6 p.m. June 15 at 1 Smithfield St., Downtown, for people to air concerns about the policy.

“We are responding to concerns from residents,” said Gabriel McMorland, incoming director of the Thomas Merton Center. The coalition also includes Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Casa San Jose and the Alliance for Police Accountability.

The groups say they fear the

days, for a total of $237 for adults.

Mr. Rose said there have been some problems with riders responding badly when they are issued a citation.

“The transit fare inspectors have been assaulted, and that’s why we have started campaigns to remind people that they are just workers doing their jobs,” Mr. Rose said. “It is a challenge to keep all of our employees safe.”

There has been no talk of switching to armed officers, he said.

In the Seattle area, the Sound Transit system began using enforcement officers when it opened a light-rail system in 2009.

They are unarmed but wear body armor and carry batons and handcuffs, said spokeswomanKimberly Reason,and sheriff’s deputies are available at stations to handleserious confrontations.

Civil penalties are $124. Riders with four fare-evasion citations within a year can be charged with theft by Seattle police.

A recent study found a fare-evasion rate of 3.26 percent, Ms. Reason said. Riders get one warning a year for an unpaid fare and last year enforcement officers found about 37,000 evaders but had to issue only about 5,600 citations to second-time violators.

“Our enforcement is purely and solely for checking whether someone has paid,” she said. “We never check for anything else unless there is some other criminal activity going on.”