For anyone thinking that this idea is ridiculous, I’d invite them to look at the breakdown of revenue sources for Sound Transit:

Financially it wouldn’t be that hard of a sell at all. The knock-on effects would certainly be more challenging to address.

I personally believe that the prospect of getting hassled and ticketed by fare enforcement staff is a legitimate reason we don’t see more people on the trains who are visibly suffering from addiction and homelessness. Because the state and the nation isn’t interested in helping these folks, they’re naturally going to flow into any public space that permits them to exist. And a free, climate-controlled train car with a place to sit down is going to inevitably be one. And that’s going to upset the kind of people who want to not look at, think about or much less share space with folks with those problems.

The answer isn’t to guard the trains to keep the poors out. The answer is to take care of people in need so they don’t need to loiter in a light rail car.

Sadly Sound Transit isn’t budgeted for that.