PORTLAND, Ore. — Beginning July 1, TriMet plans to step up enforcement of its rules for riding both big and small, according to the agency — checking that riders are paying their fares, keeping buses and MAX cars clean and refraining from "inappropriate behavior."
The transit agency said that it has more safety and security staff than ever before, enabling this big push to crack down on violations of the TriMet code of conduct.
According to TriMet, the violations they'll be looking out for run the gamut. They'll be looking for items that leak, like large bags of recyclable bottles and cans. They'll also be looking for "grocery-store sized shopping carts" and anything else that blocks aisles or doors.
"We just want to get in front of this and tell our riders they're gonna be seeing a lot more code enforcement out on the system," said Andrew Wilson, chief safety officer for TriMet. "Ever since the pandemic, we've been increasing the amount of personnel and staffing. We have to address things like code violations, which does include fare violations."
Failing to have valid fare can face a fine of up to $250 or exclusion from TriMet, though someone cited for this reason may be able to get it reduced depending on their citation history.
TriMet does offer reduced fare for people whose income is less than double the federal poverty level, as well as people with a disability, those over 65, veterans and active duty members of the military.
The idea, Wilson explained, is to not have TriMet drivers enforcing the rules. Instead, it'll be safety and security staff who respond to do that. There are now over 400 people in the agency's security department, with Wilson indicating that they are expanding up to 500.
"We try to keep our operators out of code violations," Wilson said. "Now, operators can be code violation informers. They'll be reaching out to our security operations center as well as our operation command about the violations they're seeing and those will be addressed by additional personnel."
If someone shows up on a bus or MAX train with an obvious violation of the rules, Wilson added, drivers can stop and wait until someone else shows up to address it. Meanwhile, TriMet's security operations center will be able to track where all of their security staff are at a given time, as well as the buses and MAX cars.
"We at TriMet, like others in our community, have been dealing with additional issues that we did not face before since the pandemic," Wilson said. "And it's been really important for us to ramp up the amount of staffing and the amount of dispatch capability to those locations. And I will say this is not just a TriMet issue, this is a national issue. All public transit are dealing with similar types of issues out there."
TriMet is also encouraging riders to report code violations and disruptions on public transit. Anyone can call or text the agency's 24-hour security hotline at 503-238-7433 (RIDE), or contact TriMet security online.
