Clyde Nelson could go for months at a time without having to pay his fare on Metra.
Not that the 23-year-old recent college grad was trying to avoid it. But he usually boarded at the Jefferson Park station, where there was no agent selling tickets, and once he was on the train conductors rarely asked to see one.
Instead, Nelson’s fare stayed in his pocket and he joked with his girlfriend about how he wasn’t asked to pay — again.
“After awhile it became a game to see if I actually had to pay or not,” he said.
Many respondents to a recent online survey of 7,000 people said conductors are not collecting fares, so Metra moved to beef up its oversight.
For the past few weeks, the commuter rail service has placed plainclothes employees on trains to observe the behavior of conductors — who work for Union Pacific, BNSF Railway and Metra — particularly their fare-collecting patterns.
Metra CEO and Executive Director Alex Clifford, who took over at Metra in February, said he has been hearing complaints, mostly from riders on the UP North Line.
“Do I think a great majority of the conductors are not collecting fares? Absolutely not. I venture to guess we’re talking about a very small number of conductors who have developed some bad habits, and we need to get to the bottom of that.”
There are a limited number of situations when trains are so crowded that a conductor can’t get through to check tickets and collect unpaid fares, Clifford said.
These include concerts at Ravinia, which is on the UP North Line; the Taste of Chicago; ballgames; and other special events.
Mark Davis, spokesman for UP, said the railroad company is supportive of Metra’s efforts.
“It gives us an idea and lets us know if our employees aren’t collecting fares; we want to know about that,” he said.
As for Nelson, he thinks the undercover operation makes sense.
“If they have the choice of raising fares or (going undercover) I prefer they check on the conductors,” he said.
