Riding Public Transit for ESL Learners

Riding Rules with Pictures

1. Clippers 06-24-83516-19_clippers.png (1920×1080) (metrotransit.org)

2. Headphones 06-24-83516-19_headphones.png (1920×1080) (metrotransit.org)

3. Phone 06-24-83516-19_phone.png (1920×1080) (metrotransit.org)

4. Shoe 06-24-83516-19_shoe.png (1920×1080) (metrotransit.org) 

5. Trash 06-24-83516-19_trash.png (1920×1080) (metrotransit.org)


Transit vehicles and facilities are shared spaces, and come with shared responsibilities. Your role as a rider applies anytime you use the transit system, and ensures a clean, safe experience for all.

REQUIRED

Money Icon
PAYYOUR FARE - $2.00 to $2.50 


Fares - Metro Transit - How old do you have to be to get reduced fare? Reduced fare means they pay less money. How much does rush hour cost for Adults? How many hours is the ticket good for?

Pay as you get on the bus or be prepared to show proof of having paid the correct fare on a METRO line. If you don't, you risk being issued a citation. You can pay with a Go-To Card, a Metro Transit app ticket. or cash. If paying the fare is a burden, you may qualify for $1 rides through the Transit Assistance Program.

WEAR SHIRTS, BOTTOMS, AND SHOES

Just like in stores and other businesses, customers without proper attire will be refused service.

Proper attire - The clothes a person should wear when at school, at the store, or outside of the house. 

What a person wears when they are at home is different than what a person should wear on the train.

ONE FARE = ONE SEAT

Your bag belongs on your lap, not taking up the seat next to you.

Sometimes people will put their backpack on one seat and sit in another. This takes up two places to sit for one person. 

But, what if someone needs to bring groceries home after shopping for food? Sometimes when people go shopping, they have three or four bags of food. This rule is often broken because people have things they need to bring to other places. 

DRINKS MUST BE COVERED

You’re welcome to bring your morning coffee with you. Just make sure it’s in a container with a sealed lid – and take the container off with you when you leave.

It would not be good to drink coffee in a cup with no lid. The coffee could spill on the floor of the train. If the coffee is hot and there is no lid the coffee could splash when the train stops and cause a burn on a person's body. Keeping a lid on hot drinks helps keep the train clean. 

ANIMALS MUST BE KEPT IN A CARRIER

Pets are welcome on buses and trains as long as they are kept in animal carriers. Service animals are exempt.

Service animals are exempt - Service animals learn and know how to help a person with a disability. Service animals do not have to be in an animal carrier because they need to be able to help the person they are with. 

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

Violators can be removed from transit property. Actions may result in added penalties.

  • Interfering with the operator / movement of vehicle
    Do not bother the operator or hold up vehicles. They're trying to get you to your destination safely and on time. This includes holding doors open on trains.

The operator is the person who drives the train. Do not knock on the door of the train driver or try to stop the train driver from doing their job. 

Destination - the place a person is going. 

  • Vandalizing / littering
    Respect your bus stop, station, bus, or train by putting your garbage in appropriate containers. Vandals who are caught damaging transit property can be arrested.

  • Transit property - bus stop, train, bus, train platform



  • Disorderly conduct





  • Smoking / vaping / illegal drug use
    It's illegal and simply not allowed – onboard or at stops and stations – including e-cigarettes. If you must smoke, leave the bus shelter or platform area.


  • Threatening / spitting on others
    This applies to your behavior with transit personnel as well as with fellow riders.

  • Drinking alcohol

  • Pooping or peeing
    Transit property is not a public restroom.

  • Sexual assault
    Sexual contact without consent is forbidden.

  • Walking on tracks / trespassing
    Stay within the Paid Fare Zone at METRO stations. Tracks are dangerous and not to be toyed with; only cross at designated crossings.


NOT ALLOWED - Do not do these things. 

Violators can be removed from transit property.


Do not use your hands to touch other people. Do not touch other people's bodies. Do not talk to people in a dirty way that makes a person feels bad or uncomfortable.

  • Phone calls or music played on speaker
    If you talk on a phone, be mindful of your language, keep your voice low, and your call brief. Listen to your music but don't share it with others; please use headphones!

  • Soliciting / Gambling / Panhandling / Loitering
    All of these activities are prohibited onboard buses and trains as well as at stops and stations.

Prohibited - do not do 

Soliciting - Soliciting is when someone tries to sell something. Usually a person will talk to you and give you a piece of paper with information on it. It will have a number to call and a service for you to consider. 

Example - A person comes up and gives you a piece of paper. They go to a second person and give them the same piece of paper. They go around the train handing out the same piece of paper to many different people. 

Gambling - Gambling is when someone plays a game for money. Gambling can also mean making a bet on which team will win a game or lose a game. 

Example 1. - I think the Vikings are going to win the game. I bet you $50 the Vikings will win. I think you are wrong. I think the Packers are going to win. If the Packers win you owe me $50. 

Example 2. - Scratch Off Tickets A person is holding a quarter between their thumb and pointer finger. They are holding a piece of paper. They are moving their hand up and down very fast across the surface of the paper. 

Panhandling - Panhandling is when someone asks people for money. They might say, do you have any spare change? Do you have two dollars to spare. Panhandlers are the people who panhandle. Panhandlers ask for money. 

Panhandlers will also stand or sit on busy streets with lots of cars going by on the road. They hold a piece of a cardboard box that says "please help" "unemployed" "need money" "anything helps"

Loitering -  This means when a person or a group of people stands around a store talking drinking coffee. For example, if I drink coffee I made at home and stand outside a store drinking coffee I am loitering. That would be loitering because I am not at the store to buy or shop for food. 

People are outside on the sidewalk talking for a long time and do not want to go shopping. They stand near the door where people go in and out of the store. They make it hard for people to enter and exit the store

  • Flammable or other hazardous items
    Metro Transit prohibits flammable, explosive, radioactive, and hazardous items onboard. This includes gas-powered scooters, car or motorcycle batteries, and gasoline/fuel containers.

  • Large items that block the aisle
    Keep the aisles of buses and trains clear of things including shopping carts for the safety of yourself and other customers. While strollers are allowed onboard, please keep them out of the aisle while riding.

  • Riding bikes / skating / skateboarding
    Especially on METRO station platforms.

  • Vulgar language - Using bad words that have a bad meaning. These words or sentences are used to make a person feel bad, scared, or hurt. Sh*t! F*CK! 

  • Hearing swear words shouted or screamed loudly make riding the train difficult. Wearing headphones helps reduce how much a person hears. 

  • Using profanity or derogatory statements is not tolerated on buses or trains or at any transit facility.

  • Eating

  • Sometimes people will eat Mcdonalds on the train. Sometimes people will eat chips on the bus. Sometimes people eat peanuts or food that people are allergic to.

  • No eating food on buses or trains. Wait until you reach your destination. Nobody wants to hear or see another person eating food on the bus or train. It is annoying to hear, smell, and see someone eating on a bus or train.

  • If a person is allergic to a food this means they have food allergies. A food allergy can cause an emergency. If someone is allergic to peanuts and a person eats peanuts on the train this could make a person very sick. The person could die. The person could have to go to the hospital.