Sara Nelson and Alex Pedersen are totally going to hook up.

@1 no doubt missionary only

So Chase is advocating for fare evasion? Curious where he thinks metro or sound transits operating budget is going to come from. Who knew TS was secretly anti-transit.

Also hilarious that Sawant can take an easy lay up and still turn it into a shit show all about her and her movement while demonizing her colleagues that are actually voting FOR her resolution. I’m sure when she puts forth something like rent control that requires you to build alliances her colleagues won’t hold any grudges. Meanwhile there are shoot outs going on in her district but clearly non binding resolutions are the priority

https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2022/02/no-injuries-as-capitol-hill-shootout-leaves-shattered-glass-and-bullet-holes-around-pine-and-melrose/

@5, nowhere did I see Chase advocating for fare evasion. You can state your opinion about whatever level of fare enforcement you like, but don't make shit up and put words in people's mouths that they didn't say.

Personally, I'm fine with fare evasion. I think transit should be free. Fares make up less than 10% of their budget anyway, and it probably costs nearly as much to enforce it as they collect. Most of the budget is from taxes. Making it free would encourage more ridership and get more people out of cars, and make it easier for lower income people to get around to find better employment. That would be a win for the environment and a win for employers who are having a hard time filing vacancies.

Plus, just like drug laws, fare enforcement has proved to be biased and racist. So fuck transit enforcement. If they can't do the job without being racist about it, then enforcement should be abolished entirely.

See, I stated my case without making up shit about what Chase said, or what you said.

@2 Cowgirl. With tools.

Dr Amazon. I’d like to be there to throw rotten eggs at his big boat. I’d like to see him on a stamp, with his lady love draped around him. Looking skywards together. A whole comic book. Wish I could draw.

Thanks @9. Clearly @7 wasn’t big on reading comprehension. Now @7 if you want to discuss making shit up let’s take a look at your 10% fare contribution number. From a recent Seattle Times article

“Where revenue covered 32% of Link light rail’s operating cost in 2019, it made up 8% in 2020. When all is accounted for, Sound Transit staff forecasts that just 5% of light rail’s operating costs will have been covered by fare revenue in 2021. The agency’s board had previously set a goal of 40%, which it has only met once, in 2017.”

Pre-Covid fares were 1/3 of the budget. It’s 10% now which is unsustainable. So you and Chase continue with your stupid games and run our transit system into the ground.

Councilmembers arguing about whether or not it is a waste of time to vote for non binding resolutions is not a good look.

@14 What funding source did you have in mind? The current emphasis on fare recovery is the direct result of loss of tax revenue due to decreases to MVET rates and COVID-related reductions in other tax revenues, coupled with increased construction costs. If you've got a viable solution to these problems, please share it.

@9/11:

So, based on your "logic" the Seattle Times editorial board must also be secretly advocating for fare evasion, even though they claim to be against it, since they're the ones who provided the information Chase cited. I mean, why would they think that statistic was relevant enough to their argument to include it, if not to alert their readers to how low the probability is of being confronted by the fare po-po?

@16 No, the ST stated a fact. You could infer we need more enforcement personnel to increase fare recovery from that. It’s Chase’s wink wink that moves it to the other side.

@14 - yes, we should fund it. But it is like pulling teeth to get the voters to keep doing so. And I suspect it would be much easier if we could make a good-faith argument that the users paid at least some of the cost. As to fare enforcement being "racist," there is a simple solution. Ask everyone for their ticket, no exceptions. The Long Island Railroad, for example, does exactly that. It works pretty well.