LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Regional Transportation Commission wants riders to pay their way. Along with their increased security efforts, they’re ramping up fare enforcement, too.
This summer RTC upped their safety efforts by adding dozens of security officers and firearm-detecting AI technology.
RTC’s Director of Safety and Security, Tom Atteberry, says they’re using that as a catalyst to up their fare enforcement, too.
“If you don’t enforce the fare in a legitimate and effective way, then that can lead to other things, like confrontations, fights,” Atteberry says.
The President of ATU Local 1637, the Union that represents RTC drivers, says about 90% of altercations on buses start at the fare box.
Atteberry says it’s not the driver’s responsibility to enforce the fare.
“They’re not trained for that, we don’t want to put them in any compromising situations,” he says.
He says if someone boards without paying, drivers should alert a security officer who will do a “proof of payment” check for everyone on board.
“It’s not fair for 99.9% of people to pay their dues and get on the bus every day, but you have a small group exhibiting bad behavior who don’t want to pay the fare,” he says.
Shawn Espinosa is in that 99.9%. He says paying his fare is something that’s important to him.
“I just scraped up enough change to take the bus,” he says, holding a handful of change.
He says he often sees people boarding the bus without paying, but it doesn’t bother him personally.
“I think they should be given a break. Especially because I’ve been in a situation where I had no money and I had to get somewhere,” he says.
For fiscal year 2024, RTC says the estimated cost of fare evasion was approximately $1.89 million, which is a small portion of their total revenue.
They’re hoping to ramp up fare enforcement now before it becomes a larger problem.
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