Monday, March 27, 2006
Busted on MUNI
So in San Francisco the bus system is called MUNI. For all the downtown area stops, there are turnstiles where you have to pay to get a ticket before you can even get to the platform, but outside that area you can board right off the street and you're expected to pay as you get on. The problem is, for some bus lines there are so many commuters that they actually hitch two buses together and they move as one unit. At the front bus, the driver can make sure that everyone who gets on pays, but on the back bus there's nobody there ... it's all on the honor system. If you've paid you'll have a ticket stub that the machine prints out for you, if not then you don't. (This is similar to the system they have in the LA subways, except that in LA it's 100% on the honor system.) There are signs warning that police may check for your ticket stub, but you don't really see any police around.
I've always thought that these "honor system" things were a little bit retarded. I mean on the one hand people should be honest, but on the other the system shouldn't make it so easy for people to cheat. How can such an open system possibly hope to deter people from cheating? If I lived in one of those far-lying areas, I'd be tempted to cheat myself.
Then today, during the busy rush hour commute, the police were on the bus checking for tickets. A couple got busted, two older people who looked very well-dressed. So the entire train is packed with people, with more squeezing on at every stop, and standing over these two older well-dressed commuters are two police officers, slowly writing out tickets to both of them. It takes them at least ten minutes to write out the ticket, during which time the bus makes four or five stops. Everyone who gets on gets a look at what's going on because this couple happens to be seated right near the door.
And I realize then that getting a ticket for something as silly as trying to save $1.50 on a crowded bus like this has got to be one of the most embarrassing things that could happen to someone. For the sake of saving just a little bit of money, not only will this couple have to pay a fine that is many many times larger than the $1.50 fare, but they will have to endure having the entire bus know that they attempted to cheat the system. All those eyes watching them for ten minutes while the police officers slowly write them tickets. I'd say that that's the only deterrent I'd need to not be dishonest!
I've always thought that these "honor system" things were a little bit retarded. I mean on the one hand people should be honest, but on the other the system shouldn't make it so easy for people to cheat. How can such an open system possibly hope to deter people from cheating? If I lived in one of those far-lying areas, I'd be tempted to cheat myself.
Then today, during the busy rush hour commute, the police were on the bus checking for tickets. A couple got busted, two older people who looked very well-dressed. So the entire train is packed with people, with more squeezing on at every stop, and standing over these two older well-dressed commuters are two police officers, slowly writing out tickets to both of them. It takes them at least ten minutes to write out the ticket, during which time the bus makes four or five stops. Everyone who gets on gets a look at what's going on because this couple happens to be seated right near the door.
And I realize then that getting a ticket for something as silly as trying to save $1.50 on a crowded bus like this has got to be one of the most embarrassing things that could happen to someone. For the sake of saving just a little bit of money, not only will this couple have to pay a fine that is many many times larger than the $1.50 fare, but they will have to endure having the entire bus know that they attempted to cheat the system. All those eyes watching them for ten minutes while the police officers slowly write them tickets. I'd say that that's the only deterrent I'd need to not be dishonest!
# posted by Chris @ 9:18 AM 
