Muni Enforcement Created Fear in Chinese Community
Sing Tao Daily, Posted: Mar 17, 2010
>SAN FRANCISCO— Increased enforcement on public transportation in San Francisco has created anxiety within the Chinese immigrant community, reports the Sing Tao Daily. On Wednesday, at the Immigrant Rights Commissioner meeting, Chinese residents criticized the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and the police department for aggressive actions with Muni passengers.
They said inspectors are very strict on the two-hour time limit on transfer tickets, even citing passengers who were just few minutes late. Marlene Tran, a longtime advocate for bus riders, said she supported public safety enforcement on Muni, but she has heard cases where inspectors asked for identification during ticket checks, which created unnecessary misunderstanding and fear within the immigrant community.
At the meeting, some Chinese immigrants expressed fear that the citations would jeopardize their chances of becoming citizens. But SFMTA’s spokeperson Kristen Holland explained that those citations are similar to parking citations, and people who receive them can either pay or challenge them, but violators under 18 will need to go through juvenile court.
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