Some things you should know if you get a ticket for riding the MAX without paying
I recently went through the process of taking care of a MAX citation: busted for a free ride. This was the first time I had to go through the court system here in Portland and I actually discovered a few things I wish I could have known beforehand.
So I made a list…
1) If you mail in a guilty plea, the fine is around $98 bucks and the charge goes on your record.
2) If pay the fine on, or after your court date, the fine is around $250, and the charge also goes on your record. (It was explained the jump in the fee was due to “court costs.”)
3) If you decide to go to court, DO NOT take anything you would not be allowed to carry on an airplane! I was late for my court date by thirty minutes because I had no idea that the courthouse was locked down tighter than an airport. I had to keep making trips to and from a friend’s office across town just to leave behind my suspicious pen knife, lighter, and utility tool.
4) If you are late on your appointed court date, oddly enough it’s OK. I was thirty minutes late thanks to a security guard who not just loves his job but is in love with his job, and they still let me in the courtroom.
5) If you DO NOT WANT TO PAY the fine, AND YOU DO NOT WANT THE CHARGE ON YOUR RECORD, you have options! You can take ONE DAY of community service, or take an offer to be provided a court-sanctioned social service, such as help with an addiction. Completing either of these options expunges the charge from your record.
6) If you opt for community service, you are given a return court date about a month away. Before you leave the courtroom, you must schedule your day of community service to fall before your return court date.
7) You cannot pick your type of community service. It has to be “court-sanctioned.” Upon leaving the courtroom, you are given a sheet of paper that provides a map, a time, and a meeting place, as well as the disclaimer that you will have to be ready to work outside and that rain gear will not be provided.
I just completed my day of community service yesterday. It consisted of a small group of fellow perpetrators trolling all over downtown in reflective orange vests picking up an endless scattering of cigarette butts with long-arm grabbers. I actually enjoyed it - partly for the fact that the sun came out to join us, but also because mastering the art of the grabber on something as tricky as a cigarette butt helped make the time fly by.
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Thanks for the insight!
I’ve heard that your first violation is a warning, and consequences don’t happen until the second violation. Is that just a myth?
It would be good to know, since I’ve been relying on my “get out of tri-met jail free” card as insurance for when the day comes that I space out and step onto the MAX without validating my ticket.
And make sure not to lick any of the door handles down at the Justice Center.
I heard about the “first time warning” too, and the “I’m not from here/I didn’t know I was outside of the free-zone” plea for those with an out-of-state license. I would have met both scenarios, but it did not stop the officer from issuing me a ticket.
Most likely, warnings are all based on a officer to officer basis, along with the kind of day they have been having, or the weather, or the kind of day you are having, etc…
Smokers that throw their filters on the ground for society to clean up after them suck ass.
Mark obviously you have not had to pay a parking, photo speeding, or photo red light ticket downtown the court house has been like that for years before 9/11 the judges are afraid of us unless you have a gold star “I was a armed guard and my boss had to go down there for some creaps he busted and the sheriffs told him to go around the block and come in the “cop” door they thought he was a texas ranger or some thing” your #5 has me conserned your a john q average and you space out the fare you can opt for counseling/court-sanctioned social service such as help with an addiction I don’t think that would work with most people I’m addicted to cigarettes, pepsi and coffee “exguard” you think I could get help with those addictions I don’t think so.
I don’t get it. Why not just pay the fare support the system and avoid all your whining above.
Well, thanks for the list, but a little bit of common sense might have saved you some trouble. First, just pay for the fare, for god’s sake. Second, just pay the damned fine. I’m sure that its effect on your permanent record isn’t going to threaten you future bid for congress or whatever. Third, please do not be late for your court time, it holds up other people who have more pressing business than yours. (I realize they just move your time if you don’t initially show up, but give the world one bit of courtesy.)
Lastly, since I’m feeling sympathetic despite my best instincts: You can check your metal pointy things at the hotdog stand on the corner, down from the courthouse entrance.
If you’re middle class, middle-aged and white, all you have to do is say the ticket machine/validator was out of order. Considering this is true approximately 25% of the time that I ride, and considering fare inspectors’ evident bias against young, non-white riders, I’m guessing they’ll give you a pass on this every time, assuming you match the profile. If you’re young and/or non-white, forget about it, even if the machine really was out of order. I’m terribly sorry to say, you’re screwed in that case, based on my observations.
That said, I always pay for my rides when the machines are working. I buy ten tickets at a time and carry them in my wallet so I don’t have to wait for those infernally slow machines to validate my card (50-50 success rate at best) and print my ticket while the train is pulling into the station.
I never expected to be late for my court date. I was on time until I hit the unexpected security checkpoint. (I’ve been through security at other courthouses before, but never one that was as detailed as Portland.) If I knew about the checkpoint, then I would have been early. I decided to go back, even though I knew I was late, in the hopes that I could just pay for the ticket, and when I made it to the teller, he told me that I could still go into the court room even though I was almost 30 minutes late!? I thought it was a odd enough thing to list, although I’m not suggesting that anyone should just go late to their court date. It is certainly better to go even if you are a few minutes late, than to miss it all together.
You were surprised that an “overzealous” security guard dared stop you with a penknife and utility tool entering the courthouse? Really? What color is the sky in your world?
And speaking of color, Steve, playing the race card out of nowhere? WTF? If only the rest of us could be as together, in-control, and all-knowing as you…
Steve’s right about the demographics of who’s allowed to get a “warning” although it depends a lot on the individual officer.
Jerks like you who ride the MAX for free…
Wonder why TriMet needs to cut down the times on Fareless Square? People like you who don’t pay!
My omniscience seems to have gotten under the skin of a certain blogger and her husband. (I even know what you had for breakfast.)
Just making an observation about things. Race and age are absolutely germane to the discussion of TriMet fare inspection.
Wait, you guys are white, right? So what the fuck do you know? Race isn’t a card, and it isn’t a problem here in America — as long as you’re white.
(I don’t call him “all-knowing” over here, I call him “force of nature.”)
The machines at Sunset TC work - maybe - 15% of the time. I honestly think that Trimet could see a big increase of revenue if they’d just get all of those machines up and working.
And I have no doubt that race and appearance (and location) could really affect the final outcome.
“Wait, you guys are white, right? So what the fuck do you know?” - Wacky Mommy
Would a lecture on racism that includes a racist comment be considered ironic, or just juvenile?