Free Rail Zone - Controversy

Controversy

From time to time during Fareless Square's history, some in the Portland area called for it to be abolished, for various reasons.

As bus drivers could only request, but not require, payment of fares on bus boardings within Fareless Square, critics of TriMet alleged that the existence of Fareless Square facilitated fare evasion, and thus lost revenue, which must be made up by other means, such as taxation. In particular, riders who boarded in Fareless Square without paying a fare and then knowingly traveled beyond the zone's boundaries would be evading fare payment. Transfers were given to all passengers who paid fares within the fareless zone, which were subject to inspection by fare inspectors or drivers at the first stop outside of the fareless boundary. However, in practice, drivers did not systematically enforce fare collection on bus trips taken from points inside the fare-free zone to points outside it. (In other cities with fareless zones, pay-on-exit is used on trips leaving the fareless area.)

On the MAX Light Rail and Portland Streetcar lines, a proof-of-payment fare system (or "honor" fare system) is used, so the application of the Fareless Square (or Free Rail Zone) meant that fare inspectors did not check passengers' fares within the free-fare zone.

In late 2007, a series of attacks against TriMet passengers, particularly on the MAX Blue Line in Gresham, led to increased public scrutiny of the security of the Portland transit system as a whole. Fareless Square was called into question as part of this inquiry, as it was alleged that the perpetrators of such offenses were often fare evaders who boarded TriMet in Fareless Square, and who then traveled to other areas (such as Gresham) without paying any fare, and that more stringent fare collection would keep such "undesirables" off the trains. TriMet's general manager proposed limiting the hours of Fareless Square to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. However, others questioned the logic of linking incidents of crime in Gresham with the existence of a free transit zone located several miles away, in downtown Portland, and TriMet's own statistics showed that in 2007 the agency received very few complaints about activities such as drug dealing and panhandling in Fareless Square. TriMet held two public hearings on January 16, 2008 to help determine the future of Fareless Square but, after receiving a large volume of comment from the public, decided to not make any immediate changes.

In contrast, other commentators have periodically called for eliminating fares altogether on TriMet, financing the public transportation system entirely through taxation.