Blacks Ride Free

Ever since Uber and Lyft effectively doubled their prices about a year ago, I’ve ridden the bus more in LA and it seems like about half of the black passengers don’t bother paying while about 90% of other groups do bother paying the fare.

Asians are the most scrupulous about following the rules with regard to masks.

Enforcing rules against theft is racist.

* Professors Examine Racialized Responses to Metro Fare Evasion

Ever since Uber and Lyft effectively doubled their prices about a year ago, I’ve ridden the bus more in LA and it seems like a lot of people don’t bother paying the fare.

Black passengers cited, punished disproportionately by Sound Transit fare enforcement

* “Blacks Can’t Jump”: The Racialization of Transit Police Responses to Fare Evasion: “This study demonstrates that racially disparate fare evasion citation outcomes are the product of racialized social systems that allow transit police officers to determine the belongingness of Black riders in systems of mass transit. Using citation data from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, we test the impact of race and place attributes on transit officer decisions to allocate punishment for subway fare evasion using mixed effects logistic regression controlling for individual and contextual predictors. Although rider racial identity alone proves statistically irrelevant, Black riders suspected of fare evasion possess an elevated risk for being fined as opposed to merely being warned at stations located within predominately white neighborhoods and as stations increase in ridership. These findings demonstrate how transit police officer discretion challenges Black belongingness on systems of public transportation. Broader implications of this work include the importance of scholarship linking statistical disparities to organizational intent and integrating diverse voices in policing policy development.”

* NYT: Subway Arrests Investigated Over Claims People of Color Are Targeted

* RTA enforcement of fare evasion on HealthLine discriminates against blacks, ACLU and NAACP say

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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