Charlotte to spend $5m to hire "ambassadors" to collect $9m in transit fares | Hour 3

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. So the Charlotte City Council stepping up enforcement on the transit system with the approval of a new fair enforcement program that will start on the city's light rail. Fair enforcement not fai R, it's an far enforcement program. The move comes after a difficult year that placed the Charlotte area transit system in the spotlight due to concern terms of security and safety. HM. Yes, it's a difficult year, even more difficult for Arena Zarutzka and her family. The newly approved by the way. In the last week, there have been what two cases, new cases of people wielding knives on the train. Bung I had two knives, so I know. The first question I asked myself too, was how have we as a community failed that knife wielding maniac. The newly approved Fair Ambassador program, Oh yes, an ambassador program. Look, I have one rule when it comes to ambassador programs like this. If you're not going to give them a sash, okay, then it's all a charade. Okay, you have to have sashes. I want all of the Fair Ambassadors to have big, glittery satin like sashes from you know, going you know, over one shoulder and going down across their torso tied at the waist. A bow is optional. You can totally make that call whatever. But and then like words like fair Ambassador right across the sash. So the newly approved Fair Ambassador program is the latest in a series of steps that the transit system has taken. The it's a three year program. I don't know if they get diplomas afterwards, but the three year Fair Inspector Ambassador program. Okay, Now we're just adding more words into this program. So now it's a Fair Inspector Ambassador program. Okay, So they're inspectors, but they're also ambassadors because they'll be able to tell people, you know, what stop is coming up and help you navigate the very complex transit system. That we've got going on here, which is like a hub and spokes system where you take one train in on one line. Yes, okay, So this program is expected to cost five million dollars a year through a contract with a Kentucky based vendor named Block by Block, Block by Block out of Kentucky. Does Kentucky have Do they have a lot of light rail lines? Do they have a lot of trains in Kentucky? A lot of commuter trains? That sort of thing. I'm not I mean, I'm sure they have trains, but probably more for like hauling goods and stuff, or maybe it's for buses. Maybe it's a maybe it was started for buses. But Block by Block that's actually the name of the New York City housing property seizure program that they're doing. I mean they say it's about you know, tenants rights and all of that, but they're called that's called Block by Block. Five million dollars. So I was kind of curious, how much do we spend or I should say, how much do we generate off of the fares? So it took me a while, but I did find it in some budget documents over at the city website and under kats portion of the budget. I see passenger fares as a line item, And in twenty twenty four we got fourteen point six million dollars in fares. Okay, in twenty twenty five that then dropped to thirteen point seven million dollars. That was the Those are the actual numbers. The twenty twenty six budget, which we're still in, it projected that we would get eighteen and a half million dollars in fares, so an increase of like five million dollars in fares. Okay, But. That apparently that that has not worked out, I guess, because the proposed budget for next year is contemplating only half of that revenue from fares at nine point four million. So not sure why we went from you know, this projection of eighteen and a half million this year going down to nine point four million, unless maybe know has has something been occurring in the transit system that may have altered the projections of how much money we would be generating from people who wish to use the mass transit system, particularly the light rail line. I don't I don't know, but a forty nine percent decrease in your year to year budget like that seems there seems like there has to be some reason why people would not be paying the fares or maybe not wanting to ride the trains and the buses as much. I know, it's a brain buster. So out, So out of a projected nine point four million dollars in fair collection, we're going to spend five million dollars for fair collection enforcement. So half of the budget, more than a half. Right, we're okay and okay, and this is for the ambassadors. This does not include police, the security firms. Right. The increased in the increase in security officers all over the mass transit system. In April, the interim CEO of CATS named Brent Cagel told the City Council that around half of all bus and light rail riders are not paying their fares. Half are not paying Rail evasion is the most common because of the design of the system. Okay, we've gone over this before. You built open platforms where people can just on the honor system, just walk up to the train and get on. They're supposed to go to one of the little computer kiosks and print out a ticket and then get on the train. But they don't do that because there's no enforcement and it's an open system. It's an honor system. And that may have been a good idea in years past. Spoiler alert, it was not. But when this system was designed, we had more of a high trust society. We don't have that anymore. And I've been talking about this for quite a while. When people have different ideas about what is polite, what's acceptable, what's considerate right, When people have different concepts of these things, they will be in conflict with one another. Because while you may think it's impolite and inconsiderate to blast your iPhone at ear shattering decibels on a crowded train, other people do not. This is what happens in a low trust society, where people do not share the same moraids, the same norms. That's really the problem here, all right. For over a year now, you've heard me talking about Create a Video. Great local company in mint Hill that has helped more than two million families preserve their memories by turning old photos, VHS, tapes, film reels and slides into lasting keepsakes. Now creative videos helping families and groups create brand new memories while they're traveling. 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Check out Group travel Videos dot com. That's Group Travel Videos dot com. Or call seven O four eight four six seventy eight seventy extension two O six. And when you do that, ask for Katie. But Pete can I just email? Well, yes you can. You can email Katie Katie at Group Travel Videos dot com group travel videos from old memories to new adventures, preserving life's moments for a lifetime. Let us Ham and Tomato head over to the check line the text line and see what people are saying. So this is from John who says Hornet's Tree makes driving in Charlotte safer. I would agree, yes, I would agree LaMelo Ball, I mean, think about it, all of our insurance rates are probably gonna drop a little bit. Now. That's because LaMelo Ball has been in car accidents and stuff. John Another John says, what are your thoughts on the designated hitter and the difference between the American and National League and Major League Baseball? So the designated hitter is an abomination to the sport, never should have been implemented. It's an abomination. To do. Jennifer says, fair ambassadors. Our city government is a complete clown show. Jimma says, Kentucky has no light rail at all. So look, maybe this is one of those instances where it's like you got to get somebody with outside perspective, you know. So they're going to come in from Kentucky and they're going to clean up our light rail line. I mean, they don't have a light rail line in the entire state. But that's the kind of outside the box thinking. We need. Pete think this is wait, they need a monocle and a British accent as well. Oh, the ambassadors a monocle and a British accent. Maybe they can sign an MoU with the writers that nobody will abide by. Lots of resolutions will be introduced. Zach says, there is an inverse relationship. As stabbings and murders go up, ridership goes down. That sounds like crazy talk, Zach, what do you mean that. I don't think these things are related at all. Eddie says, Now, yeah, okay, get foreigners out of the system. I don't don't know how you would even do that. I don't know what classifies as a foreigner. You're talking about illegal aliens? Or if you can't make the goal, lower the goal? After all, Obama said to lower your expectations. Is that about the hornets? Not sure? All right? So back to this story. This is from the Charlotte Observer reporter DJ Simmons. The Fair Inspector Ambassador program is expected to strengthen safety through a uniformed presence. According to Council documents. But the reporter wants us to know that research on the ties between fair enforcement and safety in other transit systems shows mixed results. For example, a twenty twenty five study by the Center for Policing Equity. The Center for Policing Equity did a study on mass transit safety. Yeah. I don't know anything about this organization, but I kind of feel like it might have a certain worldview. The Center for Policing Equity, Right, Well, they found in their study enforcement on the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, so that's San Francisco. They found that inspectors between twenty eighteen and twenty twenty three, having inspectors did not result in significant new revenue, nor did it meaningfully improve riders feelings of safety. Okay, does that be because like the miscreants were still allowed on the on the bart Could that be why they weren't actually kicking people out of the system If they just keep letting them ride, that might indicate why. People don't feel safe. And then there's another study out of New York by the John Jay College Research and Evaluation Center, and it found over a five year period between twenty eighteen and twenty twenty three, no statistically significant associations between fair evasion enforcement and total arrests for felonies and misdemeanors. Okay, so like all right, so I'm not sure that like for felonies and misdemeanors committed in the subway system or people with those rap sheets that you then picked up. Not really clear what that's because I remember there was a study out of Atlanta. We covered this a couple of months ago. I want to say, where they put up new barriers so people couldn't just jump the turnstiles, right, so that that prevented people from getting through the turnstile without paying, and when they did that, people paid. And when people couldn't avoid paying, they did not gain access to the system. The MARTA system, and then the MARTA system realized a whole bunch of cost savings in cleanup, in janitorial services. They saved a ton of money. I don't remember the exact figure, but they said that they saved a ton of money because now they didn't have to pick up all the trash that the fair evaders, the fair jumpers were apparently responsible for. Right. See, there are societatold benefits in excluding the tiny percentage of people from abusing these public systems. I mentioned this the other day. So much of our society is built around having to police the lowest common denominator, which is a very small percentage of the total population, because we don't want to be we don't want to be hard on them. We don't want to crack down on them. Oh, how have we failed them? Right? This suicidal empathy, and so we have to order the entire rest of society around this tiny percentage of mis grants. Let me see some more of the massages here on the text line, Greg says, somebody told me that in Cleveland, I think you have to have a ticket to get on and you have to have a ticket to get out of the station. Oh I like that idea. Like if you don't have like a parking deck where they hold you hostage, right, if you don't have the ticket on the way out, then you're or maybe you could just like charge people the maximum or something. But yeah, you can't get off the train now you're stuck in here with me, right. Well, I could see that backfiring if a criminal gets on board. Mike says, the more control the Democrats have, the worst things seem to be. Is there any Republican run cities having the same kinds of issues now that I'm aware of. There's just a different philosophy of governance, you know. Anthony says, City of Charlotte is just a poser. Raleigh has got into Stanley Cup and we are all excited about somebody getting close to being in the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, I would just like to have, you know, a team that doesn't stink, that's all. But I don't know why you would say that, Like, that's on the city of Charlotte. I mean, that's on the ownership. And honestly, if the city of Charlotte were to host the NHL team, if we were to have the NHL team, I would suspect that they would also have a Stanley Cup here right. There isn't anything specifically about Raleigh that made them win the Stanley Cup. That's the team that did that. So I don't I'm not sure I follow that. Phil says, do you know what MARTA stands for? Yes? I do, Phil? Oh? Should I? Well, but do you want me to google that for you? I can go, oh, oh, here's an opportunity for a little segment. Pete searches your questions, or as I call it, psych psyq. Psych MARTA stands for Metropolitan Atlanta. Regional Transit Authority or Rapid Transit Authority. No, it can't be rapid. Is it rapid? Oh it is rapid? Now look at that rapid Transit Authority Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. There you go, I can search your questions. Dean wants to know why does logic never work in government? Well, okay, that's a pretty easy one to tackle. I don't even have to search this one. It's because the incentive structure is different. Right, The incentive structure is different in government than it is in the private sector. In the private sector, if you own a business, you have to make rational, logical, smart decisions. If you do not, you will be out of business. Right. You will lose all your money and you will have to close. If you are an employee at a business and you do not make rational, logical, smart decisions, you will probably be fired and then you will have to go find another job. Right. So there is a different incentive structure there versus in government. They don't make profits. They just take money. And the more you promise people, the better your prospects are to maintain your position. If you're an elected official, if you're a city or county or state or whatever. If you're a government employee, chances are very blow that you're going to get fired, right, So you don't really have to worry about what happens if you make stupid decisions, irrational or illogical decisions, because you're probably not going to get fired. If you're an elected official and you make stupid, irrational and logical decisions, but you promise people's stuff that they like, then you'll keep winning. And so the incentive there is to just make those promises. Throw a bunch of money at the things that you know you promised people that you would deliver to them, and whether they work or not is irrelevant. It doesn't matter because you've been rewarded based on the promises that you made and the funding that you have secured for those promises. That's it. So it's all about incentives. There are new things like gates and doors that restrict entrance. I used it at our house. I even kept my mother in law out one time. I don't live there anymore, but it really works. Yeah, And this was the design. The initial design of the light rail platforms, and it was a cost saving deal because they didn't have to build structures right. For gated entry. Back in the eighties, people in Atlanta said moving that Marta stood for moving Americans rapidly through Atlanta. You know, I'm just going by what the what the search results show, so I'm not aware of what they used to say or something about about Atlanta. So the BART system in the Bay Area Rapid Transit BART reported earlier this year an improvement in safety after the installation of new plexiglass fare gates throughout its system, something that would be structurally hard for cats to replicate in Charlotte. Yes see, so they so even BART recognize that when you put in the you know, more restrictive fare gates, that you see an improvement in safety because the scoff laws, the criminals can't evade the plexiglass, they can't get around it. Despite this, Katz similarly said it has seen a decrease in overall transit crime prior to the approval of the program. But while crime on public transit is rare, a February Charlotte Observer investigation found violent incidents were more likely to occur on buses rather than light rail, and that bus drivers were especially vulnerable. The Charlotte Observer also previously reported that public records show fair enforcement efforts decreased over a decade between twenty fifteen and twenty twenty four, with collected evasion fees dropping from over ten thousand dollars a year. To just six hundred. These are choices, These are choices that local officials have been making. They say they want to dedicate now more than sixty positions to fair enforcement. At five million a year, to collect nine million. Maybe maybe we should look at doing like controlled access guys. Maybe I think I had Oh no, that was about their earlier topics. Last in the beginning of the program, we talked about the Supreme Court rulings. And a question here about. Wanting to know how the due process of the law and courts granted to the citizens of America are automatically given to illegal immigrants. In fact, Justice Clarence Thomas made a point, made that very point, saying that in his in his concurrence with the majority opinion, he pointed this out that like these these due process protections, they don't apply to illegal aliens. So, all right, have you seen the video it went viral of a of a large woman dressed in New York Knicks regalia after the big, you know, championship parade that was held for the New York Knicks basketball team. Through New York City. You had all these people, you know, ticker tape parade and all of this because they had won the NBA Championship, and so you had all these people out there and apparently the the ohso broke City they apparently went and had made up a bunch of special trash cans, like they were orange because the Knicks colors are orange and blue and white, and so they had these cans made up and they were like in the Knicks colors. And this video that went viral shows this woman dumping out a full bin. It's like what it almost looks like a waste paper basket, you know, like the wire mesh style, but it's a full size it's a big garbage can. And they had them on the streets for the parade. And she's walking in and she just picks up this trash can and she dumps all of the tree. It's like full, and she dumps all of. It onto the street on the sidewalk and then she just waddles away with the can and this video goes viral. Most expensive trash bin ever. I think the value comes in somewhere at about anywhere from two hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand a year, because that's what she was apparently paid before she got fired for stealing the can. The woman in the video her name. She's been identified Angie Baiez. She is no longer at her job at JP Morgan Chase. She was first identified by The New York Post and described as an executive director of Community and Industry Engagement for Card and Connected Commerce. Like, how do you fit that on a business card? Seriously, how do you fit that title? That's just ridiculous. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment on the tabloid report, but said, this is, by the way, from People magazine, which People magazine. I don't think you are in any position to be throwing around the title of tabloid against the New York Post. Okay, just okay. So. A spokesperson declined to comment, but said in a brief statement that this employee is no longer with the company. The video circulated widely on social media, showed Biez in her Nick's gear as she emptied the orange and blue trash can onto the street and then walked down the block with it. A spokesman for the city's Department of Sanitation told People magazine that Biaz has since returned the receptacle. But she got fired. She got fired, and apparently she was being paid like something like two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year for I think what amounts to a DEI position, like she was in charge of their DEI efforts or something. She got a seventy five dollars fine for littering, one hundred dollars fine for impeding department operations. But the big scandal here is that she only had a two year associates degree and. Was pulling in that kind of money. Like I was going to say, I hope the can was worth it, but apparently like you don't even get to keep the can. I would have just kept the can at that point. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too. And tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.