MINNEAPOLIS — A Democratic bill backed by the Met Council would lower the penalty for those caught riding the light rail in the Twin Cities without paying.
"It puts a huge burden on the judicial system, so there's a huge cost," said Rep. Brad Tabke of Shakopee.
Through a data practices request, KARE 11 has discovered the law is being enforced much less than it used to be.
In 2015, 2335 people were charged with a misdemeanor for unlawfully obtaining public transit, commonly called "fare evasion." In 2019, 1300 people faced the same charge.
The number of convictions went from 503 in 2015 to just 91 last year.
That's a 7 percent conviction rate, and Democratic lawmakers say just 3 percent of the fines end up being paid.
"A lot of prosecutors believe this is not in line with what their values are and what they want to be working on," Tabke said.
Fare evasion does cost Metro Transit money.
In 2016, the last time they studied the rate of people riding without paying, they found it had doubled in two years.
At the time, that meant between $3.8 and $4.8 million in unpaid fares.
Riders don't have to show their ticket when they get on the light rail. So the way people get caught for not paying is once in a while, Metro Transit will walk through and see who has a ticket and who doesn't.
In the proposed bill, instead of police, newly appointed "transit ambassadors" would enforce fares and look out for crime, which Republican lawmakers also want to address this session.
New crime numbers show robberies rose 26 percent in 2019 from 172 to 216.
Aggravated assaults jumped 56 percent from 96 to 150.
And other assaults rose from 668 to 756.