Study: Black MAX riders more likely to be banned from TriMet for fare evasion

Black riders caught without a ticket on a MAX train are significantly more likely to be banned from TriMet than whites and other groups, a Portland State University researcher says.

The finding, PSU criminology professor Brian Renauer said, was statistically significant but too small to indicate systemic disparity in the transit agency's fare enforcement practices, which TriMet hired Renauer to audit earlier this year as part of a broader review.

Still, it suggests that black riders are more likely to face an escalated penalty -- one which can hinder the rider's ability to travel to work or school -- for the same offense, and it's not clear why. Exclusions can last up to 90 days.

The disparity could be partially, but not fully, explained by the fact that a greater portion of black fare evaders were repeat offenders. Repeat citations for fare evasion can trigger escalating penalties. But the finding holds even accounting for that variable.

Black riders also were more likely to be banned, or excluded, from TriMet when local police were involved, as opposed to TriMet's own fare inspectors.

Renauer, director of the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute at PSU, said the discrepancy deserves more research. But the margin of statistical significance was small. A difference of about 152 encounters made the number statistically significant out of 5,900 exclusions issued over the past two years.

"It doesn't appear fare enforcement on MAX is systemically biased," Renauer said, "but the rate of exclusions for African Americans merits looking into."

The study examined research collected by TriMet, including its fare enforcement database, a ridership demographics survey and a fare evasion survey, in which fare inspectors aboard a MAX train identified -- but did not detain or cite -- riders who didn't have valid fare.

Third-party contractors hired for the survey recorded those riders' apparent race. (For the survey, they didn't ask, and in some cases recorded that they couldn't determine the rider's race.)

The study also found that habitual fare evaders are far more common than TriMet had realized. Repeat offenders accounted for 1 in 4 fare evaders over a two-year period.

Few transit agencies have studied their own fare enforcement practices as TriMet has, Renauer said.

"TriMet is ahead of the field in their willingness to look at this," he said.

The agency said it would continue to study the potential disparity even as it embarks on an overhaul of its fare enforcement program.

"We still need to keep looking into this subject," said Doug Kelsey, TriMet's chief operating officer. "We take this very seriously, and we don't want to be impulsive."

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com
503-294-5034
@enjus

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