Public Transit: Cashing In or Out?

This has been a very eventful week here in Charlotte, NC.  As the host of the Democratic National Convention, Charlotte has been home to many visitors.  From protestors to politicians to police, the city has seen many new faces from all over.

 

For a few hours a day I have been at the heart of the madness as a volunteer with the PPL, an organization acting as a “home base” for out of town bloggers, journalists, and tech companies from around the world so that they can cover the event.  Since there are so many people trying to attend all of the events being held this week, as you may guess, many precautions have been taken to maintain safety and security for political officials and attendees alike.  Due to the security perimeter in place, many means of transportation have been eliminated making it more of a challenge to make your way into the heart of uptown. 

I have been using the light rail train to make my way uptown all week.  I have noticed that many more people than usual have also elected to use this as their main means for transportation as well.  Although the train has blocked off the last few stations ending now at Stonewall station, this seems to be the most convenient method of transportation in my opinion.  As you may know, a one way ticket to board the train costs two dollars and will bring you all the way to Stonewall station, from there you must walk the remainder of the way to your final destination.

Now that I’ve explained the way it works, I’d like to let you ponder the question of whether this method of public transportation will produce more revenue than it does on any normal business day.  While there seems to be more traffic aboard the train than I am used to, there is always the question of whether people are actually purchasing the tickets before they board, or simply taking a free ride.  Just the other day I arrived to the station as the train was pulling up, leaving me little time to purchase my ticket.  Fortunately, I acted quickly enough to grab the ticket and board the vessel before the doors sealed.  I may have acted quickly enough, but as I was purchasing my ticket, I noticed a few people who rushed right past me and jumped on without purchasing a ticket.  Who knows, they may have had a round trip ticket and were already covered, but then again they may have just been taking advantage of the situation. 

Even though Charlotte imported an army of law enforcement officers, the train seems to be lightly monitored.  Since I have ridden, I haven’t once seen an officer checking for tickets.  I have gotten the impression that many people have been boarding the trains without tickets and riding for free.  If this is the case, and a significant number of people have been skipping out on the fare, ultimately this could pose an issue as far as final revenue goes.  While this is just an assumption on my part, I think the question is an important one even though it will probably never be answered, at least not truthfully.

Until next time,

Jeremy Bugbee