The Open Turnstiles Movement

Washington’s beleaguered public transit agency, WMATA, has curtailed service and hiked fares significantly in recent years. (Oh, and it has also killed somebody.) It has recently declared that it needs another $30 million cash infusion from the jurisdictions that subsidize it to stay afloat.

Yet the D.C. City Council is looking to hobble the transit authority even further in what an ACLU apparatchik calls an exercise in “raised consciousness”: The council is debating a move to decriminalize fare evasion.

It’s as crazy as it sounds.

Currently, the maximum fine for turnstile jumping is $300, and includes the possibility of jail time. The D.C. government is considering lowering that (theoretical) max to $100 and eliminating the possibility of jail for people who skip out on paying for the train.

San Francisco and Portland have already taken similar measures. But Washington’s bill is being debated even as WMATA says that the system loses about $25 million a year thanks to fare scofflaws. The agency opposes the current bill because it fears that decriminalizing fare evasion will encourage more free riding.