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ATLANTA – MARTA police announced they will be arresting people who attempt to get a free ride. Also, they say they will crackdown on those reasoning they don’t need to pay passage. About 40 MARTA stations with regular clothes officers and observation cameras have gotten more than 538 individuals attempting to skip paying a passage in the previous a month and a half.
MARTA said their toll avoidance team captured the speculates hopping over the entryways or crushing past section posts as someone else strolled through.
“If they are unable to pay, they should get at least a warning, not arrest,” said Chandler Wilson, who rides MARTA every day.
Sgt. Lee Martin, with MARTA police, says the fare evasion task force was successful in part due to cameras at the stations and also because of plain clothed officers who blended in with riders. Even so, he said they don’t see everything that happens.
“I don’t know people who do It, but I know some people have tried it,” Quin Perkins, another rider we met Monday, said.
People who steal rides cost transit systems millions of dollars each year across the country.
The crackdown is just one-way authorities are trying to make sure the system is funded and safe for everyone.
“As long as you’re riding the bus, riding the trains, doing what you’re supposed to do, you’re not going to have any problems with law enforcement,” Martin said.
The punishment could be as severe as jail time if the person is not able to produce a valid ID. If they do have ID, in many cases they’re slapped with a 60-day suspension from MARTA.
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