LIGHT RAIL

What’s the real cost of the honor system?

I grew up in Boston. Getting to high school required a bus, a subway train and another bus. I learned early that public transportation works best when there are clear rules, and those rules are enforced.

One major difference between Boston’s subway system and the Twin Cities’ light rail has always struck me. In Boston, you couldn’t simply walk onto a subway platform. You paid your fare first, passed through a controlled entrance and then entered the platform area. The Twin Cities chose a different approach: the honor system. You can walk onto a light-rail platform and board a train without first proving that you’ve paid. Instead, passengers are expected to buy a ticket and hope they aren’t caught if they don’t.

That may have saved money when the system was built. But has it really saved money in the long run? For years, we’ve watched the Twin Cities struggle with fare evasion, drug use, homelessness and disorder on light rail. The response has been to increase police and security presence, at considerable public expense. So here’s the question we should be asking: How much money did we save by not installing controlled entrances, and how much are we now spending on police, security and enforcement because we didn’t? If we want light rail to be a safe, reliable and attractive option for commuters, families and visitors, we need to rethink how we operate it. Modern fare gates and controlled access should be seriously considered at our light-rail stations. We shouldn’t keep throwing more police and security resources at a problem that may be partly rooted in the way the system itself was designed. Sometimes the cheapest way to build something isn’t the cheapest way to operate it. The Twin Cities should take a hard look at whether the honor system has cost us more than it saved — and whether it’s finally time to end it.
RICK FRASER, Prescott, Wis.

SAVE ACT

Trump’s never-ending story

President Donald Trump is doing everything he can to interfere and cast doubt on the upcoming midterm elections in November, mainly through suppression of the vote. He has been actively pushing to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require all those registering to vote to present proof of citizenship (such as a passport or a birth certificate) in order to cast a ballot in a federal election. Trump has attempted to end mail-in voting through the U.S. Postal Service. His administration has also demanded that the states turn over all voter data from previous elections to the federal government. He and his allies have discussed the possibility of sending armed federal agents to specific polling places throughout the country.

Trump has most often made allegations about rigging of elections, dating back to 2016, when he said that he could lose to Hillary Clinton only if the election were rigged. He has started a new campaign to relitigate the 2020 election between him and Joe Biden, claiming massive fraud and asserting that he actually won that contest. One really has to wonder if this is the act of a wannabe tyrant or the mindset of a psychopathological individual. As Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said recently, “When the people fear the government, that is tyranny. When the government fears the people, that is liberty,”
GARY LANGENDORF, Minneapolis

•••

I read the New York Times every day, and the Star Tribune. Our country is suffering from Trump fatigue. I’m exhausted. It’s been a decade. Enough. It never ends. Every day is a new version of the man and his punitive actions. How dare he hold up our country to such a debilitating state where we are all so tired, fatigued and just plain worn out by the man? Please let our country survive the exhaustion. It won’t be easy, but we have no other choice. I can’t believe that he has another two years in office.
SUZANNE HUSSEY, Minnetonka

ENOUGH SNIPING

Craig and Flanagan: Go positive

I am so disappointed in what I have seen and heard from Peggy Flanagan and Angie Craig in the lead-up to the Minnesota primaries. These are two intelligent, qualified women who each bring energy and ideas to our broken government. And yet in all of the interviews and debates I have heard, I have yet to hear either of them actually give us a good reason to vote for them. I do not need to hear sniping and nonanswers at this point. I need to hear what plans they have to protect citizens from a government that is breaking us into pieces. I haven’t heard anything like that. And more importantly, I have genuine concerns about either of these candidates competing well against the Republican candidate they face. They both need to get it together and give Minnesotans a reason to vote for them — whether again or for the first time.
JULIE LINDBERG, Roseville

NATIONAL COLUMNS

A welcome Friedman byline

Kudos to the Star Tribune for bringing nationally syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman back to its opinion pages (“The quick-fix fantasies of the world’s strongmen,” July 27).

His column was an effective reminder of the perspective and insight that columnists of Friedman’s caliber can bring to the Star Tribune’s pages and to its readers.

It is also a reminder of what readers of the paper have been missing as the paper has focused on Strib Voices and local contributing columnists. Nationally syndicated columnists of decades past — Russell Baker, Charles Krauthammer, William Safire and George Will come to mind — were a daily feature of the Star Tribune and its predecessors. Their columns could leave some readers cheering and others fuming, but their arguments were well-informed and soundly structured, and seldom easily dismissed.
JOHN IBELE, Minneapolis

DEATH PENALTY

Boelter gets to keep suffering

In his letter (“Why take the death penalty off the table?” Readers Write, July 26), Chris Madel addresses the frustration of J. Carroll Hortman, the father of Mark Hortman. It is very understandable that one who has lost a son and daughter-in-law to a vicious murderer would want revenge.

But what is real revenge? When a horse breaks its leg or suffers some other calamity, the merciful thing is to shoot it. Vance Boelter is a miserable being, so why would we want to put him out of his misery? Let him stew for the rest of his life in the terrible suffering of prison. It is time for the United States to join the civilized world and ban the death penalty.
ROBERT KRIESEL, Stillwater

SOCIAL SERVICES FRAUD

One lingering question: Did Minnesota kids go hungry?

We have all heard endlessly about the Feeding Our Future fraud case. Our “asleep at the wheel” government set aside millions and millions of dollars for feeding kids who might go hungry because of conditions caused by the pandemic.

But then it proceeded to hand the money out to a bunch of thieves who spent it on themselves.

So here’s my question: What happened to all the kids who were supposed to be fed with meals provided by that money? Does this mean there were lots of hungry kids in Minnesota during the pandemic? Or does it mean the money wasn’t really needed? And if there were lots of hungry kids, why didn’t anyone notice?
JOYCE FORTIER, Minneapolis