It is way less than 50% not paying; not even close

That's what I thought. The sub here seems to project that the majority of riders are skipping fares. As an anecdote, I commute from U Street and there are people paying their fare and about 2-4 don't.

It's the reddit and internet effect. Strongly advisable to not use this sub as your only source of info.

It really depends on what station and time of day. There have been times Im exiting Stadium/Armory and way more than 50% are jumping the gates. But if I average all my rides over a week, I would estimate maybe 20% of people jump the gates.

Not just jumping but also following right through behind someone else who just swiped. Less blatant than jumping but same effect

20%

This sub is a not a good representation of what is actually going on in this city.

Most people don’t pay full fare, if they pay at all. I don’t (mine is paid by my employer, sure I swipe my card, but I don’t pay, many people get it at least pre-tax) only tourists and the poor pay full fare. Do you?

What are you talking about? Suburbanites in Loudoun County have their finger on the pulse when it comes to a city they go into maybe twice a year.

😂😂😂

From what I see, probably about 2-3%.

This. Ppl jump the gates all the time at Glenmont. Twinbrook, not so much.

20% sounds astronomical

Bout tree fiddy

Man if 40 people get off a train I’d bet 2-6 would hop the gate. It really isn’t as big as a problem as this sub makes it out to be. What’s crazy is how many times I’ve BEEN TOLD to hop the gate by the attendant

10-15%. I see it every day now.

I live by naylor and see like 70% not paying

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I think the X2 is has the highest fare evasion period and that's only 50%.

Also not for nothing, DC public school students get free metro rides, so a lot of "fare evaders" were riding free anyways.

Also of note, free fares for busses greatly speeds up the bus (no waiting for people fussing with dollars). Plus, I remember the Kansas City DOT director commenting that something like 75% of incidents on busses where the police are called related to fares. So you speed up the busses, avoid conflicts, drivers are safer, police can focus on more important issues

Oh and most fare boxes only cover something like 10-30% of costs anyways, so you're not sacrificing a lot for large improvements. And it helps the poorest people access the city.

Lastly, our highways are heavily subsidized and free to use, why not the bus?

Busses were free for a time when Covid was first around. I wonder if there were any studies about how that affected service?