Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JUNE 18, 2015
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: QUARTERLY REPORT ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THOSE
CITED FOR FARE VIOLATIONS
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
title
RECEIVE AND FILE quarterly report on the demographic profile of those cited for fare violation in response to Motion #55 from the May 2014 Regular Board Meeting (Item C2).
Issue
ISSUE
At the May 2014 Board meeting, the Board approved a motion (Attachment F) on pursuing opportunities for a fair and balanced fare structure. Item C2 of Motion #55 required staff to report quarterly on the demographic profile of those cited for fare violations.
...Discussion
DISCUSSION
The data presented in this report is based on Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) static and roving fare enforcement and assessment processes. The data in this report is between Quarter 1 (July-September 2014), Quarter 2 (October-December 2014) and Quarter 3 (January-March 2015). LASD conducts daily fare enforcement, both static and roving operations. Static fare operations occur when law enforcement personnel are assigned to a rail station to conduct fare checks. Roving fare operations occur when law enforcement personnel are assigned to a rail line and conduct fare checks while aboard the train.
100% FARE ASSESSMENT DATA
Fare assessments are 100 percent fare check operations on deboardings for a specified period of time. Transit Court staff administer this on-going fare enforcement and assessment method with the close cooperation of LASD. Below is a table which breaks down the data by line, age and race. Metro's Transit Court staff identifies rail stations, including Orange and Silver Lines, for a fare assessment to be conducted by LASD. Stations are selected for 100% fare assessments based on ridership and TAP reports. Fare assessments are a useful tool to use in combination with roving and fixed post fare operations. The goal of these combined efforts is to reduce fare evasion and encourage proper fare compliance.
100% Fare Assessment results from the period of Quarter 3 (January-March 2015):
* NUMBER OF 100% FARE ASSESSMENTS CONDUCTED
100% Fare Assessment results from the period of Quarter 2 (October-December 2014):
* NUMBER OF 100% FARE ASSESSMENTS CONDUCTED
100% Fare Assessment results from the period of Quarter 1 (July-September 2014):
* NUMBER OF 100% FARE ASSESSMENTS CONDUCTED
YOUTH FARE EVASION DATA
As shown in Attachment A, the total number of all fare evasion citations issued on Metro rail lines for the Quarter 3 is 12,854. Attachment A contains the breakdown of ticket issuance for adults and youth (under the age of 18). This data is based on LASD's fare enforcement operations conducted daily on the Blue, Expo, Gold, Green, Red, Orange and Silver Lines.
Youth fare evasion citation issuance by line is as follows:
· Red Line: 70 violations issued (11% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Blue Line: 191 violations issued (30% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Green Line: 219 violations issued (34% of the total youth fare violations issued
· Gold Line: 66 violations issued (10% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Expo Line: 81 violations issued (13% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Orange Line: 19 violations issued (3% of the total youth fare violations issued)
Youth fare evasion citation issuance by line for Quarter 2 is as follows:
· Red Line: 101 violations issued (9% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Blue Line: 338 violations issued (31% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Green Line: 400 violations issued (36% of the total youth fare violations issued
· Gold Line: 154 violations issued (14% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Expo Line: 98 violations issued (9% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Orange Line: 13 violations issued (1% of the total youth fare violations issued)
Youth fare evasion citation issuance by line for Quarter 1 is as follows:
· Red Line: 113 violations issued (10% of the total youth are violations issued)
· Blue Line: 394 violations issued (35% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Green Line: 183 violations issued (16% of the total youth fare violations issued
· Gold Line: 209 violations issued (18% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Expo Line: 141 violations issued (12% of the total youth fare violations issued)
· Orange Line: 99 violations issued (9% of the total youth fare violations issued)
METRO ON-BOARD SURVEY DATA
Metro Rail Ridership Demographics:
*** Orange and Silver Line Data will be available in late June when bus surveying is completed
Depicted above is a chart depicting Metro Rail's ridership demographics. These numbers are derived from Metro's spring 2015 On-Board Survey, which is conducted on a semi-annual basis.
Metro Rail Youth Ridership Demographics:
*** Orange and Silver Line Data will be available in late June when bus surveying is completed
In order to obtain more accurate information on Metro Rail's under 18 ridership, Metro Research surveyed over three times the number of passengers than in the Spring 2014 On-Board Survey. Although the system-wide target was met, the Red/Purple Line, Blue Line and Gold Line are just short of meeting the accepted industry practice of 70 surveys for under the age of 18 ridership and have slightly higher rates of error than the other lines.
The current On-Board Customer survey, which will provide overall ridership data as a baseline, was completed in May 2015 for the rail lines and is set to conclude in June 2015 for the bus lines. The rail portion of the project included additional surveyors on all lines in an attempt to collect a larger sample.
YOUTH DEMOGRAPHICS DATA BY RACE
Staff is providing a quarterly report on the demographic profile of the total number of youth that were cited for fare violations. The data, Attachment B (Ticket Issuance by Race: Youth) indicates the following left column:
Race percentage comparison of total youth citations fare violations:
|
|
100%,Static, Roving |
100% Fare Assessment |
|
|
(January-March 2015) |
(January-March 2015) |
|
|
(N=646) |
(N=18) |
• |
African- American: |
57% |
78% |
• |
Hispanic: |
38% |
17% |
• |
White: |
1% |
0% |
• |
Asian: |
1% |
0% |
• |
Other |
3% |
5% |
All fare enforcement operations use a blanket method and are not subject to arbitrary enforcement. The percentages above outline all youth citations (646) from January-March 2015 and 100% Fare Assessments (18) from January-March 2015 for comparison. Staff has determined that more specific ridership data is required to serve as a baseline. Metro staff is assessing ways to improve data collection, including gathering more specific data on ticket issuance, fare evasion, youth ridership and overall ridership with breakdowns by age and race. Metro is utilizing additional surveyors on all rail lines during the next On-Board Customer survey in an attempt to collect a larger sample to assist in these efforts.
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH EFFORTS
Staff scheduled a Youth on Metro Transit Workshop on February 23, 2015 with several agencies including Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles County Probation Department, Los Angeles Unified School District, and representatives of Metro. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss minors on the transit system and how fare evasion can be reduced and managed. The working group exchanged ideas and will collaborate further on the topic.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will provide FY15 4th quarter report at the August Executive Management Committee. Metro will continue to work with LASD to ensure consistency when conducting fare enforcement operations. Staff will continue to work on collecting data that can compare youth citations to overall ridership on the system. The current On-Board Customer survey, which will provide overall ridership data as a baseline, will be completed in June 2015; however the rail line portion was completed in May 2015. The rail portion of the project included additional surveyors on all lines and tripled the number of completed surveys. At present, it has been difficult to collect data on youths as they tend to be infrequent riders and tend to not volunteer their information. Data from this survey will be incorporated into these quarterly reports as available. Staff will continue to work on improving the data that is available by exploring ways to increase data collection methods for overall ridership.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
A. Ticket Issuance by Rail Line (Adult/Youth)
B. Ticket Issuance by Race (Youth)
C. Ticket Issuance by Time (Youth)
D. Ticket Issuance by Age (Youth)
E. Motion 55
Prepared_By
Prepared By: Duane Martin, DEO Project Management, Office of the CEO, 213-922-7460
Reviewed_By
Reviewed By: Stephanie Wiggins, Interim Deputy Chief Executive Officer
213-922-1023