New York police have defended their actions after a bystander was shot in the head as two officers tackled a fare-evader armed with a knife in a busy subway station.
The man was in critical condition after the shooting at Sutter Avenue L station in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon. Three others, including the suspect, were wounded.
Public transit should be fully funded and free and accessible for all to use.
But think of the oil and gas shareholders!
I would also accept a “pay what you want” system. Wasting money on enforcement of $3 fares is idiotic.
IME this is largely the stance that the LA Metro buses* take, as long as you’re not causing trouble. A lot of the time I get waved on for the card not reading quick enough (resulting in a free ride), and I’ve literally never seen a driver tell someone to leave because their card won’t scan or they don’t have the money for it.
Which, when you think about it makes sense. The $1.75 or so they’re ‘losing’ from the passenger not paying (the bus will be going that route anyway, regardless of whether they board or not) will be FAR exceeded by the cost of paying a bus driver to sit there with a bus out of commission for however long it takes cops to get there and force someone out, PLUS a literal bus full of now pissed off people who may be missing connections because some bus driver had a stick up his ass. It absolutely doesn’t make sense unless the fare-evader in question is either a chronic problem causer or an immediate threat.
* trains/subways are a different matter, they have cops checking randomly onboard there to fine people