500+ people arrested in MARTA ‘free-ride' crackdown

ATLANTA — MARTA police announced the arrest of hundreds of people who attempted to get a free ride. And they say they will continue to crackdown on those thinking they don't have to pay fare.

Nearly 40 MARTA stations with plain clothes officers and surveillance cameras have caught more than 538 people trying to skip paying a fare in the past six weeks.

MARTA said their fare evasion task force arrested the suspects jumping over the turnstiles or squeezing past entry posts as another person walked through.

“If they are unable to pay, they should get at least a warning, not arrest,” said Chandler Wilson, who rides MARTA every day.

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Sgt. Lee Martin, with MARTA police, says the fare evasion task force was successful in part due to cameras at the stations and also because of plain clothed officers who blended in with riders. Even so, he said they don’t see everything that happens.

“I don’t know people who do It, but I know some people have tried it,” Quin Perkins, another rider we met Monday, said.

People who steal rides cost transit systems millions of dollars each year across the country.

The crackdown is just one way authorities are trying to make sure the system is funded and safe for everyone.

“As long as you’re riding the bus, riding the trains, doing what you’re supposed to do, you’re not going to have any problems with law enforcement,” Martin said.

The punishment could be as severe as jail time if the person is not able to produce a valid ID. If they do have ID, in many cases they're slapped with a 60-day suspension from MARTA.

Cox Media Group