So in talking to a young man on my bus who lives in a far away suburb, about why he doesn’t show a pass to ride, is because he isn’t concerned about the financial health of our railway budget, but only of his income. He transferred from a restaurant in Antioch, a suburb a good 45 minutes away from center city because he got better tips working for the same franchise in the city.
He would hop the gates on BART, and get on Muni for free, in essence, making the bigger tip income, but not showing any gratitude for riding mass transit. He was traveling an hour for free in both directions on two railways, and not paying anything. The reason people aren’t tipping in Antioch is probably because all their income is going to house payments that are more “affordable” than those in the city. Those restaurant patrons are probably so exhausted from their commute to and from the city, they don’t have the time to cook, nor the extra income to eat out with gratitude. All this seems like a vicious circle where out the outset, it seems like a doable idea, but in reality, it just makes the short worse.
Indeed, if our most regular riders want to use the system without paying, there is little hope from those who have and commute in cars to make mass transit better. If our riders don’t support us by regularly paying, and our city officials don’t ride, there really isn’t any political capital to be had in being a bus driver.
I believe this is why many of our new hires leave, and why we cannot retain operators. There isn’t any support from any quarter to keep the system sustainable. This gate hopping attitude could be one reason morale suffers so bad within the ranks. Minutes are cut from recovery time, union representatives offer the reason as running ahead of schedule, in which we are trying to maintain a schedule without overloading our coach.
When that heavy coach has fare jumpers and fare evaders, it becomes disheartening to see those faithful in paying get bumped off a seat by those who do not contribute. The Trolleybus of Happy Destiny can only be found when I leave fare evaders alone, and turn it over to God. Lord knows I cannot control anything outside of me, including Gate Hoppers.
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 