King County Metro's new policy reduces fines for people riding the bus without pay fares, along with wiping out all previous citations.
The changes to the fare violation program eliminate sending violators to court or to collections. It also reduces the fine for not paying a fare from $124 to $50. If the fine is paid within 30 days the fee is cut in half, to $25. If the fine is not paid the individual would be suspended from Metro service for 30 days.
The changes were made after an audit was completed in April 2018 and found the current enforcement system wasn’t working. The fare enforcement program costs Metro $1.7 million dollars a year, and according to the audit, in 2016 the county got back less than $12,000 in fines. It also found in 2016 officers issued more than 39-hundred infraction citations, but only 94 people paid them.
The audit revealed the fare program was having a negative impact on homeless riders. Nearly 25 percent of all citations and 30 percent of the misdemeanors were given to people who are homeless or experiencing housing instability, according to the audit.