A new code of conduct that is the centerpiece of a legislative push to clean up light rail platforms and trains as well as bus lines in the Twin Cities is set for approval by the agency that operates the troubled Green and Blue lines.
The transportation committee of the Metropolitan Council approved the proposed code Monday. The full council is expected to approve the new code next month and it would go into effect during the first quarter of 2024 after public notice and after car and station signage is installed. It will replace an existing code that is less stringent and lacks the enforcement of the new safety program. While light rail safety has gotten the most attention, the code will apply to the entire Metro Transit system.
Transit police will be the only employees who can remove a rider from vehicles or platforms who repeatedly violates the code, but other non-sworn transit workers and community service officers can ask violators to follow the rules and summon police if needed.
“For any code of conduct or illegal acts, you could be removed from transit,” said Pam Steffen, the customer relations and experience manager for Metro Transit. “Our officers are authorized to remove, cite or arrest, whereas other authorized personnel can tell customers, ‘hey, stop that or you are going to be asked to leave.’”
The one behavior the Legislature specifically said could not be prohibited is sleeping on vehicles in a manner that does not otherwise violate the code, such as occupying more than one seat.
The new code is part of a broader program contained in the 2023 transportation omnibus that was designed by the prime sponsor to change the culture of transit riding and to clean up a system plagued with crime and safety concerns. Another major change begins Monday when non-sworn officers will begin issuing what are called administrative citations for fare avoidance.
The previous citations had to be given by transit police and came with a fine of $180, a penalty that was considered out of sync with a failure to pay a $2.50 fare. County attorneys rarely prosecuted fare evasion tickets.
The new administrative tickets come with fines of $35 with increases to $100 for repeat offenses who can also be banned from the transit system for 60 to 120 days. An administrative hearing system will replace courts and prosecutors. One goal is to free police officers from fare enforcement and allow them to enforce more-serious violations.
For now, community service officers will conduct fare enforcement checks and write tickets. Starting sometime in 2024, with timing dependent on contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union, new transit rider investment program (TRIP) personnel, often referred to as ambassadors, will begin patrolling stations and vehicles to enforce fares, monitor code of conduct adherence and help riders navigate the system. The current budget calls for 22 TRIP personnel.
The agency has contracted with private security companies to patrol some high-problem rail stations and transit centers. It has also contracted with non-profit groups that will bring employees to stations and vehicles and offer services and interventions for people who need social services or causing problems.
According to a presentation made to the transportation committee, staff reviewed conduct codes from 10 other transit systems and said the proposed Metro Transit code is nearly the same as those. The code was developed after conversations with transit staff and riders via in-person surveys on the system and social media.
What is prohibited?
Five things will be required of all riders – pay fares, wear “tops, bottoms and shoes,” only occupy one seat, have any non-alcoholic drinks covered and keep animals in carriers unless they are service animals. While it was true before, the new law makes it clear that paid fares are required not just in vehicles but for anyone in marked paid fare zones, which are at platforms beyond where fares are purchased.
The new code also includes a long list of behaviors that are not allowed.
- Sexual or discriminatory treatment
- Phone calls or music played through a speaker
- Vulgar language
- Eating
- Soliciting, gambling, panhandling or loitering
- Taking flammable or hazardous items on platforms or vehicles
- Any items that blocks aisles
- Riding bikes, skating or skateboarding
The code will also include sanctions against behavior that is already illegal.
- Threatening or spitting on people
- Smoking, vaping or illegal drug use
- Alcohol use
- Sexual assault
- Urination or defecation
- Vandalizing or littering
- Walking on tracks and trespassing
The Met Council has pledged to engage in a significant public awareness effort, including but not limited to signage and announcements on vehicles and at stations.
The Transit Service Intervention Project began in June with a combined social services-law enforcement effort to connect people with mental illness or with substance abuse issues into programs. It also continued a Met Council project to connect people without homes with the agency’s housing services.
Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, had been working on transit safety even before the pandemic made the problems much worse. Tabke had been seeking a bipartisan compromise on the administrative citation changeover but was blocked by the then-GOP Senate and members there who considered it soft on crime.
Once the pandemic gutted transit ridership and issues of crime and fare evasion escalated, Tabke shifted his focus to a more-comprehensive approach. He decided there needed to be a “reset” in the culture of the transit system. The two-pronged approach – a high-visibility social services and law enforcement intervention followed by deployment of non-police transit personnel – was needed. Because the DFL controlled both the House and Senate, Republican opponents could no longer block the plan.
He said Tuesday he is encouraged by the progress made by Metro Transit, even if it has taken longer that he had envisioned.
“The code of conduct is an important piece of the puzzle,” he said. “But the more important thing is we have enforcement around it so everyone knows what they are doing.”
But Tabke said the need for culture change is the fundamental goal.
“It’s making sure that everyone knows what people’s responsibilities are as a transit rider and being a good neighbor and making sure we are enforcing that culture,” said Tabke.
He said the goal is to “make sure we have as many people as we possibly can and to get that ramped up as fast as we can to have more eyeballs and more enforcement on the system so that everyone can have a safe, comfortable ride.”
“It would be wonderful if we could have snapped our fingers and had a solution that was 100% ready before we get into the winter months, but we knew that wasn’t going to be the case,” Tabke said.
But riders this winter will not have the same experience they did last year, an experience Tabke observed when he rode buses and trains from his home to the Capitol.
[cms_ad:x104]
A recent Green Line ride between the Capitol and the University of Minnesota, “was a night and day difference,” he said, compared to last January. “There were more people on the train than I would have seen in a whole week last winter. I took that all as very positive steps.”
