Metro Transit rolls out tougher fare enforcement, rider code of conduct

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CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. Metro Transit plans to get tough on fare evaders starting today. Why now? We'll talk to general manager Lesley Kandaras about efforts to boost enforcement and ridership on Metro area buses and trains.

Some Minnesota schools are already using new reading tools that will be required by law. We'll talk to Katherine Richard, a reporter and parent in Rochester, about what she's hearing and Emily Hanford, host of the podcast that helped cause the change in curriculum.

Feeling stressed? Well, who isn't, right? We're going to learn about the science of forest bathing in a new study on its potential to help ease anxiety in kids. Also, check in with a Minnesota blogger about what holiday pop-ups there are to see this season. All of it's coming your way right after the news.

NORA RAHM: Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Norah Rahm. Israel is expanding its ground offensive in Gaza in an effort to eliminate the Hamas militants who attacked Israel almost two months ago. Israeli forces are also bombing targets across the Gaza strip.

The military is calling for more evacuations, including areas where tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled to escape the violence in recent weeks. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem.

DANIEL ESTRIN: This ground operation began in northern Gaza. It was a ground incursion. The troops are there on the ground, and that's the hardest hit area of Gaza.

But now this military campaign is widening and is now widening to the central area of the Gaza strip. And that is where Israel is asking Palestinians now to flee to go from the central area of Gaza to go further south.

NORA RAHM: NPR's Daniel Estrin. President Biden is urging congress to expedite the approval of additional US aid to Ukraine. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports the White House has sent a letter to congressional leaders, reminding them that money already allocated to Kyiv will run out at the end of the year.

DEEPA SHIVARAM: In an urgent letter from budget director Shalanda Young, the White House says the decision to give more aid to Ukraine in their fight against Russia is part of a fight for freedom across the globe. Young writes, quote, "There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money and nearly out of time."

The White House argues that with no aid, Ukraine is kneecapped on the battlefield. In October, Biden sent a request to congress to pass $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, which is meant to last until September 2024. But republicans in the house are holding that request up over border security negotiations, Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.

NORA RAHM: A former US ambassador to Bolivia is charged with secretly spying for Cuba. The justice department says Manuel Rocha acted as a mole for Cuba's intelligence services going back to 1981.

The republican presidential field continues to shrink. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announced today that he's suspending his bid for the nomination. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports.

ASHLEY LOPEZ: Burgum is a tech billionaire turned governor who spent millions of his own money on his campaign. He entered the crowded primary this summer and struggled to grow his base of support. In a statement, Burgum largely blamed the republican national committee's debate rules.

He said the RNC used arbitrary criteria to narrow the field of candidates months before the Iowa caucuses. Burgum was able to qualify for the first two debates but fell short of the RNC's criteria by the third debate. Even though the GOP primary field has shrunk significantly in the last several weeks, former president Donald Trump continues to pull well ahead of his challengers. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.

NORA RAHM: On Wall Street, the Dow is down 86 points. The S&P is down 27. This is NPR News.

Alaska Air Group wants to buy Hawaiian Airlines for--

SUBJECT 1: Include Indeed designed to be an end to end hiring solution for businesses of all sizes to attract, interview, and hire candidates all from one platform. Learn more at indeed.com/npr.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now, skies are partly to mostly cloudy. There's still some fog out there. Highs today will be in the 30s. At noon in Milan, it's partly sunny, and it's 28.

It's 31 in the Twin Cities. And outside Ed Barbo's Columbia Clothing store on Superior Street in Downtown Duluth, it's 36 degrees. I'm Cathy Wurzer with Minnesota news headlines.

Authorities are investigating why a 19-year-old man was killed in a landslide over the weekend at Minneopa State Park falls near Mankato. Emergency workers eventually recovered the body of the victim, 19-year-old Jack Robert Loso. The Sheriff's office in Blue Earth County says Loso of Robbinsdale was visiting the park with his family.

Two Minnesota companies are recalling packages of cut cantaloupe amid a national outbreak of salmonella infections linked to cantaloupe. Cut Fruit Express and BIX Produce are recalling containers of the fruit sold at MSP Airport and at convenience stores in delis. Kwik Trip also recalled fruit cups and trays last week. 14 people, 14 Minnesotans have gotten sick after eating tainted cantaloupe, and 3 people have died.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is out of the hospital and back in prison after he was stabbed more than 20 times while in federal prison in Arizona. Peter Cox has more.

PETER COX: Chauvin is serving concurrent sentences of more than 20 years for a state conviction for murdering George Floyd and federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights. His attorney says Chauvin was treated at a trauma facility in Tucson after the stabbing but has since been returned to prison custody for continued medical care.

Chauvin's attorney says Chauvin's family is concerned that the prison won't be able to protect him from further harm. Court documents allege Chauvin was stabbed in the law library by fellow inmate John Tercek, who now faces attempted murder and assault charges. Tercek has been moved to a high security prison nearby. I'm Peter Cox.

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CATHY WURZER: Starting today, if you ride Metro Transit buses or the light rail line, making sure you are a paying customer will be the focus of the work of community service officers. The agency is focusing on a pay to ride policy. Those who have not paid will be issued a citation.

Fines start at $35 for a first violation to $100 for a fourth. It's part of a push to clean up light rail platforms and trains and bring ridership back up. Joining us to talk about all of these changes is Metro Transit general manager Lesley Kandaras. Welcome to the program.

LESLEY KANDARAS: Thank you for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Star Tribune found 49 citations were issued in 2022 for fare evasion and 2019 it was about 1,300. Why did Metro Transit back off enforcement of paying to ride?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Well, Metro Transit has always had a policy that you need to pay to ride transit. I think what's changed in recent years is first, during the COVID pandemic, in those early days, we were really focused on ensuring the public health of our employees and riders that were social, distancing requirements, and so forth. So that led us to make changes to fare enforcement.

And then on top of that, over the last few years, like many law enforcement agencies, the Metro Transit police department is down officers. So we haven't had as many police officers to inspect fares and issue citations as we did back in 2019. So now, we're taking a new step towards this and having those community service officers out on our system and inspecting fares. And when somebody hasn't paid, they will be writing an administrative citation for that.

CATHY WURZER: OK. Explain the training of these community safety officers. Are they strictly going to focus on fare evaders or behavioral problems as well? How is that going to work?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Sure. So our community service officers are members of our police department. They're not sworn police officers. They're actually enrolled in school to pursue a law enforcement career. So they are trained to handle a variety of tasks. Our system as part of their training program, and they are receiving specific training as it relates to issuing these administrative citations.

CATHY WURZER: So they'll just focus on that. If they have other issues, say, someone doesn't want to pay and they don't want to get off the train or the bus, then what happens?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Right. So our community service officers are going to be out on this system interacting with customers, but they're not the only personnel we have out there. We still do have Metro Transit police department officers out on the system as well. So certainly, if our community service officers are experiencing a challenge, they're able to contact a police officer for assistance.

But beyond our police department, we are developing other layers of presence on our system to improve the customer experience too. So, for example, we now have supplemental security officers at some of our highest boarding locations. We also are in the process of implementing the transit service intervention project, which allows us to contract with community-based organizations to help connect riders in need to services. So there's a lot of personnel out there, and it's part of our broader approach to really increase official presence on our system and ensure that we're providing a welcoming experience for all our riders.

CATHY WURZER: Can you explain, how does enforcement of fares maybe create a safer environment?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Sure. So part of what's changed this year is during this past legislative session, they changed the penalty for fare noncompliance. So before this past session, if you rode transit without paying, that was a misdemeanor offense. And as such, we had only police officers doing fare inspection and issuing citations.

Part of what's changing here is now we have additional personnel who can handle that task, meaning people will see more presence on our system. But it also means that our police officers can really focus on more serious public safety issues and illegal behavior on our system.

CATHY WURZER: And you mentioned folks in need. Now, this is beginning at a time of the year when the weather's obviously getting colder, and there are substantial numbers of folks who don't have housing and their riding buses and trains is a way to get out of the cold. How will those folks be affected?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Well, in general, anyone who is very compliant should be writing our system. We welcome people riding. And we have long had programs in place to assist writers who may be experiencing homelessness. So, for example, within our police department, we have a homeless action team that works with people who may be experiencing homelessness and may be in need of services.

In addition to that, as I mentioned a moment ago, we're implementing this transit service intervention project which was another outcome of this past legislative session and is allowing us to contract with additional community-based organizations to conduct outreach on our system and just really bolster efforts that were already underway with our homeless action team to support people in need.

CATHY WURZER: I also understand that there's a code of conduct that you're looking at which includes illegal behavior, drinking, illegal drug use, those sorts of things. But also, you can't eat and no speakerphones. Can you talk about how this code of conduct is different from the current one and how that might also potentially help keep trains and buses a little safer perhaps?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Yeah. Great question. So as you're noting, Metro Transit has long had a code of conduct in place. There are rules for riding, and we take those rules very seriously because it's important that when we're sharing public space, we're respecting each other, and we expect that of our riders.

So what's changing now is really we're taking steps to refresh and revamp and formalize that code of conduct. So, for example, in the past, it was very much an operational policy within Metro Transit. Over the last year, we've done extensive internal engagement with our employees, external engagement with customers, and we'll ultimately be bringing this as a policy in front of the metropolitan council for their approval. So it's really codifying some of what we've had in place, but it also is providing a new opportunity to really refresh and remind people that there are these rules for writing that we expect people to uphold.

CATHY WURZER: And how will you refresh everyone's memory? Is it somebody on a bus or a train reminding people, hey, no speakerphone here? Or is it some kind of other educational effort?

LESLEY KANDARAS: It'll be a mix of efforts. So the metropolitan council is expected to adopt the code of conduct on December 13. And once the council adopts it, we will really look at launching a campaign to raise awareness of this. So it'll range from having new signage, new announcements, but it'll also be how we're actually upholding it on the system. So the personnel that we have on our system, including our community service officers and then the forthcoming transit rider investment personnel agents will play a role in educating people about the code of conduct as part of this broader effort.

CATHY WURZER: Say getting back, if I could please, before we end our conversation about fare enforcement, there's an open light rail system in this town, and I'm curious. Could stations be enclosed to enhance safety? Some riders think that this contributes to issues on the light rail system. Could this eventually turn into fare enforcement barriers like gates or turnstiles or something like that?

LESLEY KANDARAS: So right now, Metro Transit is studying both the possibility of enclosing light rail stations, but that is part of a broader look at what improvements can we make to our light rail platforms generally? So we're actively studying what additional tools can we add to our toolbox that not only improves fare compliance but really enhances that sense of safety among our customers?

So as part of that study, we're taking a look at barriers or fare gates, looking at what peer agencies are doing that are experiencing similar challenges to ours. But really we're at a place where we want to gather more information and really understand what additional tools we can be employing here to improve the conditions on our system.

CATHY WURZER: All right. So we'll see. It sounds you're-- the code of conduct comes up maybe at the met council next week. So you have some big changes coming your way in the new year. Is that right?

LESLEY KANDARAS: Yes, well, we continue to advance several different actions all coming back to this need to make sure we're providing a welcoming and just overall good customer experience for all of our riders. So yes, more to come.

CATHY WURZER: All right, Lesley. Thank you so much.

LESLEY KANDARAS: Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Lesley Kandaras is the general manager for Metro Transit.

[JEFFREY LAMAR WILSON, "TO MY BABY"]

This is Minneapolis-based singer, songwriter, saxophonist, and composer Jeffrey Lamar Wilson with his latest project Lamar and the song "Home to My Baby." He's performing as part of the current's winter warm up series this Thursday, December 7.

(SINGING) --on one peace to my baby tonight. Got a little bit of grass in my front left pocket, a case of beer in the trunk. You need a key to unlock it. I'm just trying to get home in one piece to my baby tonight. Isn't it strange how a minute can change your whole life? One wrong move--

As Minnesotans, many of us have taken a walk through the woods to relieve some stress. But what about forest therapy?