On Fri, Oct 18, 2002 at 08:19:46AM -0500, Stephen Jester wrote: > > Why this all ties into our LRT is the story in yesterdays paper. Feeling > like I have some knowledge now of how this form of transportation works, I > just couldn't believe my eyes. All fares are going to be based on the honor > system? HELLO!!!!! This thing is not going to make a dime. It won't even be > able to pay for itself. What kills me is you have the machines and > instructions in different languages, and the way you enforce the fares is by > using police officers?? I guess we better get officers that speak Hmong, > Spanish, Somailian, Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, Ect.. I can see the > stories now... "Blacks sick of be profiled on LRT." "Somali community upset > that officers held fare busters that cannot understand English." > > It just goes to show that as an American society, we all need to be able to > communicate in one lanaguage. English. Period. End of Story.
I would be overjoyed if my fellow Americans would master at least their native language. For those who immigrate, I'm impressed at the rate at which they acquire, as adults, a tongue as weird and complicated as English -- especially those coming from societies without widespread literacy in the native languages. Putting Spanish, Hmong, and other languages with significant populations of immigrants to Minneapolis on public signage and gas bills is a courtesy that I support. Yes, I do think that it's a practical reality that immigrants must learn English as quickly as they can. But I'm leery of legislating "English Only" restrictions as some states have tried. In America, for adults it would be like legislating "Oxygen/Nitrogen Breathing Only". Some data on ticketing in other transit systems: * In the London Underground and Paris Me'tro, I recall having to use one ticket to get in and to get out. If there was value left on the ticket, you get it back when you get out. And if you travelled too far, you discover that the gates are pretty easy to leap, or you can stand there helplessly in the little stall until an attendant notices lets you out with a fine of either a Firm Disapproving Expression (London) or a Look of Pity at the Helpless Uncultured Barbarian (Paris). The gates themselves are hard to negotiate with luggage, and I have found myself several times with my suitcase on one side of the barrier and myself, sans billet, on the other. The French find watching this situation funnier than a Jerry Lewis movie. * In German cities, it's the honor system on busses, Strassebahn, and U-bahn. You buy your ticket before boarding (or from the driver, if there is one) and cancel it yourself. Traffic polizei in plain clothes lurk on the cars and conduct spot checks for missing or uncancelled tickets. They do seem to target foreigners and immigrants; speaking English or Turkish on a streetcar is good way to hear "Ihre Fahrkarte, bitte?" The fine is about twice what a monthly pass costs and it's payable in cash on the spot. * In Geneva and Lausanne, it's the same honor system, but nobody ever seems to check, and I think that a lot of the locals are riding for free. It's a small compensation for having to know three official major languages as well as English, which they all speak better than I do. So I think that you can enforce payment either with lots of machinery or with an honor system backed up by fines. I'd prefer machinery, since I wouldn't expect an honor system to work with Americans any better than it does at enforcing red lights and speed limits on the roadways once the police have abandoned them. (I still think that we could solve our budget woes in Minneapolis by just collecting traffic fines on West 50th Street.) -- Peter Klausler, Linden Hills, Minneapolis, Minnesota ',.PY FGCRL Principal Engineer, Cray Inc. AOEUI DHTNS pmk@visi,com, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.visi.com/~pmk ;QJKX BMWVZ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
