Dominique Davenport was waiting for a ride home after getting off the MetroLink light rail one night in East St. Louis, Illinois , when he heard an argument followed by gunshots behind him on the station’s platform.
A teenager had been killed, the latest act of violence for a St. Louis-area transit system with a reputation for crime and where anyone could board without even showing a ticket.
“You could just be getting off work and somebody gets an attitude,” Davenport said. “Big drug addicts, drug dealers, you’ve got so many different personalities, so many different types of people who go through things. And everybody catches the train.”
As transportation hubs across the country attempt to win back riders who haven’t returned since the pandemic — 26% as of September 2023 — one major obstacle is the sometimes inaccurate perception that transit crime is on the rise. Many systems are bulking up enforcement and targeting their efforts on people who try to ride without paying.
MetroLink has begun adding 8-foot (2.4-meter) metal gates to ensure customers can’t enter the platform without a valid fare card. That’s a major change from the honor system the two-state light rail had employed since its inception in 1993, with fares only enforced through onboard spot checks and the threat of fines for repeat violators.