Suit: TriMet’s no-cash bus fare policy violates Oregon law

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 14, 2020

TriMet’s closed-door decision to stop accepting cash at the farebox during a public health crisis has sparked a new lawsuit seeking to overturn the policy — and to push for fareless transit.

In a lawsuit filed April 10 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, attorney Alan Kessler alleges that the regional transit service violated Oregon law by failing to “notify the public, interested persons, or the news media” of the private meeting where the no-cash policy for buses was approved.

“TriMet has been pushing toward a cashless, completely surveilled, tap-every-time system,” Kessler told the Tribune. “It felt opportunistic for this to happen in this way during a public health crisis.”

A TriMet spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation.

In an announcement on April 14, the agency said 10,000 disposable masks and face coverings have been distributed to its frontline staff, and efforts were underway to speed installation of assault-prevention safety panels on the remaining half of buses lacking them.

According to the six-page complaint, TriMet’s executive committee didn’t take minutes during the March 26 discussion of the no-cash policy. The agency changed the rules — requiring most bus riders to use its Hop Card electronic fare system or a cellphone app — beginning the next day, telling the public the change would reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Paper tickets, which also function as a bus pass, can still be purchased at shared machines on MAX or WES train stations.

Critics say there’s nothing unhygienic about inserting coins and bills into a metal farebox, though it requires riders to pause near the front of the bus, and the money is later centrally collected and counted.

Kessler said the new rules had a “discriminatory impact,” noting that fare enforcement officers continued to patrol the tri-county system. “There’s definitely a deal of prejudice against the homeless in this debate,” he said.

Well known in activist circles, Kessler — who has pending public records lawsuits against both Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Transportation — ends his lawsuit with an appeal for fareless transit, or at least a return to the old way of doing business.

Ridership across the system has dropped from a February average of 1.6 million trips per week to just 602,280 trips weekly, and TriMet has decreased service on some lines and set caps on the number of riders allowed on each bus. Those who remain onboard are asked to wear a mask.

The Oregonian first reported the lawsuit.