D.C. Council member Trayon White recently introduced three pieces of legislation designed to help Ward 8 residents and other Washington D.C. residents deal with Metro fare sanctions, parking violations and burial assistance.

On July 12, White introduced The Fare Evasion Decriminalization Act of 2017, the Parking and Moving Violation Amnesty Act of 2017, and the Burial Assistance Program Increase Amendment Act of 2017 for consideration by his colleagues.

Trayon White, who represents Ward 8 on the D.C. Council, has put forth three bills that address Metro fare evasion, parking tickets, and burial costs. (Courtesy photos)

“My number one goal on the council is to lighten and hopefully, to relieve the burdens of the residents of Ward 8,” White said.

The Fare Evasion Act would make evading fares on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or Metro, a civil infraction punishable by a fine; currently, violators are subject to possible arrest and imprisonment for up to 10 days. The Parking and Moving Act would require the mayor to set up an amnesty program for no less than one month that would specifically target District residents who have accumulated traffic violation fines that exceed $1,000, and consider the fines paid in full if the resident has paid 60 percent of the amount owned.

The Burial Assistance Act will increase the amount of burial assistance offered to local residents from the D.C. Department of Human Services from a maximum of $800 to no more than $1,600.

In introducing the Fare Evasion Act, White said the majority of residents arrested for fare evasion are young and from “economically challenged communities.” Those residents need transportation to get to jobs and take care of personal needs, he said, but are often without any or steady employment.

“Ward 8 residents and others would be better served by the 550-employees of Metro Transit Police focusing on improving safety measures, as opposed to making arrests for the minor offense of evasion,” he said.

White said the Parking and Moving Act would lift the burden of an “undue regressive tax” on working class and lower income residents who have to deal with the hassles of parking their cars on the streets. The Burial Assistance Act would aid residents who don’t have the money or insurance to finance the burial of a loved one, he said.

Holly Muhammad, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for single-member district 8A01 in Ward 8, said she agrees with White on his Fare Evasion and Burial Assistance bills.

“I agree with what he wants to do on fare evasion because I ride the Metro and sometimes people don’t have the money to ride the bus,” Muhammad said. “Some people just ask the driver whether they can get point A to point B. It shouldn’t be a harsh penalty for not paying a fare, it should be just a civil infraction.”

She added that the burial assistance bill was good legislation because “burials cost a lot.” However, she did take issue with the Parking and Moving Act.

“I can’t see someone getting a $1,000 worth of parking tickets,” she said. “If you don’t pay for the first one, they boot your car. I think his bill should reduce the fines and I know the council can do that because if the people support that, the council will support it.”

The Fare Evasion bill has the support of D.C. Council members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), Anita Bonds (D-At Large), Robert White (D-At Large), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), and David Grosso (I-At Large) as co-introducers, and Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) as a co-sponsor. The parking amnesty bill has Nadeau, Gray and Silverman as co-sponsors. The Burial Assistance legislation was co-introduced by D.C. Council members Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Cheh, Gray, Bonds and Silverman and sponsored by D.C. Council members Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), R. White and Grosso.