I can hear the characteristic ding-ding of the train bell announcing its approach.The sound of the bell has become white noise as it rolls through my neighborhood a couple dozen times a day. This morning it’s a siren in my head. I am less than a half mile away and I can see the dual engines pulling into the MLK station. The westward traffic is stopped at the railroad crossing, and I feel a stroke of luck as the east ward traffic is clear. I pedal through the intersection without a whim of stopping. Pedestrians spill out of the train cars. I instantly become the rude cyclist as I blurt out “On your right,” repeatedly as I maneuver among human bodies, determined to board the train with my bicycle.
There’s a feeling of magic in the air. I audibly exhale as I revel in the fact that I made the train with seconds to spare. The alternative of missing the train would have been an hour bike ride across town with a slight incline the entire route. The train will get me half way to my destination in 7 minutes.
The morning commuter train is full, and the long frame of my cargo bicycle is the last to board and fits snugly. I feel blissful at the ease of my morning despite starting out late.
I stand next to my bicycle, in case I need to move it out of the way of exiting passengers at the next stop. Standing next to me in the entrance way is a female police officer. Two weeks ago on the train I met an off-duty officer who was wearing his uniform and had his personal bicycle too. He was friendly and explained that he used the park-and-ride in combination with his bicycle on the train to get from his suburban home to the downtown police station where he worked. I asked him if he got heckled often. “Yes,” he responded. I encouraged him to keep riding and commuting with his bicycle. I told him it made him seem more like a person with his bicycle, and less like a stereotype.
However, the female police officer this morning on the train doesn’t have a bicycle with her. Sixty seconds after the train doors closed my mind calms from the adrenaline rush and I take in the neon-yellow shirt of the Cap Metro security guard. With a dead-pan face he asks me if I have a ticket. A ticket? Didn’t he just witness the magic that happened as I over came time, traffic, and pedestrians to embark on the train as it was pulling out of the station. “Can I get a ticket at the Crestview station when I get off?” I ask. He simply nods toward the police officer. “Can I see your ID?” she says.
I get off at the Crestview station and go ahead and purchase the $1 ticket for a one-way, one-zone train ticket (I had planned to ride my bike the entirety of my return trip). In my other hand I have a newly acquired Theft of Service citation ticket for $100.
on Feb 8th, 2012 at 9:03 am
I’m sorry, but your ending made me laugh. Couldn’t help myself.
on Feb 8th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
I also laughed, but I was cursing myself last week when I also received a ticket because my “inspection” sticker was out of date. Totally my fault, but also totally frustrating because I was planning on riding that morning, and didn’t. Thankfully I don’t have to get an emission’s test for riding my bike….maybe I should (plenty of mid-ride emissions), but I don’t. The inspection resulted in me having to purchase two new tires, because apparently being able to see the threads on your tires isn’t a good thing on your bike or your car. Just another reason to ride my bike.
on Feb 8th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
LOL…”plenty of mid-ride emissions”
on Feb 9th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Small world — I was the passenger with the little green folding bike who was admiring your ride that morning. I’ve been in your shoes a few times, albeit lucky enough to miss getting ticketed — eventually started just buying the month passes to stop having to worry about missing a train in the time it took to buy a ticket.
On the other hand, those passes aren’t exactly economical for someone who uses them only for the train — two single-zone one-way tickets a day being cheaper; it’d be nice if Cap Metro came up with a less expensive train-only or zone-limited month pass to avoid the dilemma.
on Feb 9th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
@Charles…were you wearing a kilt? (somehow I remember what you were wearing and not your folding bicycle).
on Feb 10th, 2012 at 12:04 am
Heh — yup, that was me. (The folder is actually quite kilt-friendly, having its frame lower to the ground than even most step-thrus; a typical diamond frame, not so much).
on Feb 12th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Wow, $100 seems pretty steep.
I periodically buy a prepaid Metro pass ($12 will get you $15 in rides, not time-sensitive), but it only works on the bus. I sometimes skip the train in favor of the bus because I have to navigate the train ticket dispensers while keeping an eye on the platform, and that’s just an extra hassle.
I’d like to see Cap Metro go with a rail/bus pass which is “attached” to your bank account. You’d just pass it in front of a device on all public transit vehicles and your account would be automatically debited. That way, you wouldn’t have to buy monthly or prepaid passes or worry about correct change.
We spend two months every year with relatives in Seattle, and carry the local ORCA transit cards which operate in that fashion. It’s a great, no-hassle system!
on Feb 13th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Might be a good candidate for contesting –
Sec. 31.04. THEFT OF SERVICE. (a) A person commits theft of service if, with intent to avoid payment for service that he knows is provided only for compensation:
(1) he intentionally or knowingly secures performance of the service by deception, threat, or false token;
(2) having control over the disposition of services of another to which he is not entitled, he intentionally or knowingly diverts the other’s services to his own benefit or to the benefit of another not entitled to them; or
(3) having control of personal property under a written rental agreement, he holds the property beyond the expiration of the rental period without the effective consent of the owner of the property, thereby depriving the owner of the property of its use in further rentals.
(b) For purposes of this section, intent to avoid payment is presumed if:
(1) the actor absconded without paying for the service in circumstances where payment is ordinarily made immediately upon rendering of the service, as in hotels, restaurants, and comparable establishments;
(2) the actor failed to return the property held under a rental agreement within 10 days after receiving notice demanding return; or
(3) the actor returns property held under a rental agreement after the expiration of the rental agreement and fails to pay the applicable rental charge for the property within 10 days after the date on which the actor received notice demanding payment.
…
I’d say your defense would be a slam dunk (I imagine you didn’t intend to not pay) except for section ‘b’ where they seem to get confused about what “intent” really means, but if you have a bunch of old receipts that might suggest that there was in fact no intent.
I don’t know how this would play out in court, but it might be something to consider.
on Feb 15th, 2012 at 1:19 am
On second thought, I don’t think (b)(1) would apply, as you normally pay for the service before leaving, not after. With that gone, the burden of proof should be on the court to show intent beyond a reasonable doubt — which they shouldn’t be able to do, especially if you can show a record of playing for train trips in the past (if you saved the tickets.)
This is a real crime — a class C misdemeanor — and I think it would also qualify as a crime of moral turpitude, which can screw you in certain subtle ways down the road. Being that it’s not a moving violation, I think it would stay on your record forever.
I would suggest not just paying this — fight it (especially since it sounds like you’re actually innocent of this law (I assume there was no intent.)) Maybe work a deal out with the prosecutor for deferred adjudication if you don’t want to actually go to court over it.