Once upon a time, there was a hypothetical person. This hypothetical person sometimes takes Trax home from work in the evenings. One evening, she arrived at the Trax station, ready to buy a ticket. However, that station would not take credit cards, and the ticket machine was apparently out of change, as it would not accept her $20 bill. So she dug through her purse and came up with $1.95. Unfortunately, a ticket costs $2.25. The ticket machine returned the money and informed her it was insufficient.
So this hypothetical person really needed to get home, and all her legitimate methods of payment had been rejected. So she got on the train without purchasing.
Now, Trax occasionally has police come by and check the tickets of every person on board. Those who are caught attempting to ride for free are fined $150, which is a lot to spend half an hour with people who smell of mold, smoke, or body odor. Determined to avoid this fate, our hypothetical ride thief kept a weather eye out for any police-looking people waiting at the stations. The plan? As soon as police get on, get off and walk to the next compartment over. The police switch compartments at each stop, so an enterprising rider will only have to switch twice (at most). Despite this brilliant (if somewhat unethical) plan, during her entire hypothetical 35 minute journey, the ride thief was paranoid and frightened, and it was with great relief that she reached her station. Nobody even attempted to check her nonexistent ticket. Moral: Crime pays.
It's true. Crime pays all the time! This hypothetical person might have a sister, and this sister might hypothetically take Trax sometimes. And do you know how often she pays for tickets? Not very. Because she never has money ever.
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