This week I'm working on a story for the print edition (out tomorrow! Find it on a corner near you!) about illegal immigrants who wind up being deported after they are arrested on the MAX for not paying the $2 fare. I requested TriMet's stats on people arrested for fare evasion, which it turns out they don't keep track of. But the public transit agency was nice enough to proffer the stats MAX security deals with fare evasion between Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties.

The breakdown is surprising: it shows that Multnomah County is far more likely to hit you with a ticket for skipping out on fare, but Clackamas is way more likely to exclude you from the system. If you're caught without fare, transit security can decide to either just warn you, write you a $115 citation, exclude you from MAX and TriMet buses or just give you a verbal warning. Check out the breakdown:

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So Clackamas only cites two percent of fare evaders, but kicks out 63 percent, while in Multnomah County, about 22 percent of ticket-less folks get cited and only 12.5 percent get excluded. Washington County has the weakest punishment of all, with 76 percent of fare-evaders getting off with just a warning.

All riders systemwide, however, are assaulted routinely by this cartoon picture of a "Portlander."

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