Code of Conduct

RULES OF CONDUCT AND INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT TRANSIT EXCLUSION PROCEDURE POLICY

I. Purpose

It is the mission of the City of Raleigh’s Transit System, a program within the City of Raleigh’s Department of Transportation, through the efforts of dedicated, well-trained employees, to provide safe, reliable, convenient, and efficient public transportation to the citizens and visitors of Raleigh and Wake County. The Transit System has established this Code of Conduct Policy to promote the safety and comfort of its riders, to facilitate the proper use of transit facilities and services, to protect transit facilities and employees, to assure the payment of fares and to ensure that the Transit System’s vehicles and facilities are safe, welcoming and provide equitable access for all Transit System passengers. Responses to inappropriate and/or illegal conduct are outlined throughout this policy.

II. Overview and Definitions
No individual may engage in inappropriate conduct on, at or in the facilities of the Transit System, including at Transfer Points, in shelters, at bus stops, and at administrative, operational, and maintenance facilities, or on buses used to provide the Transit System’s fixed route services. 

Inappropriate conduct includes any individual or group activity which is disruptive or injurious to other individuals lawfully using the Transit System’s facilities or services; damaging or destructive to transit facilities or services; or disruptive, harassing, threatening or injurious to transit employees. Inappropriate conduct may also constitute a violation of an ordinance or criminal law. The fact that an individual is or is not charged or convicted of an incident of inappropriate conduct does not bar investigation and/or exclusion under this Policy.

III. Level I Inappropriate Conduct on Buses
For any of the following inappropriate conduct on buses; persons will be given a first warning by the Bus Operator not to engage in the conduct. If further warning by the Bus Operator is necessary for failure of the passenger to comply, a Transit System Supervisor may be contacted and may be called to the scene by the Bus Operator. The Supervisor is authorized to and may ask the passenger(s) to leave the bus. An individual, who declines to leave a bus after being ordered to do so by the Transit System Supervisor, is subject to arrest and prosecution for trespassing and or disorderly conduct by the City’s Police Department. These offenses may also subject passenger(s) to the Exclusion Procedure, described in Section VI; further legal action may be taken as applicable and appropriate.

Continuous repeat infractions may result in exclusion from buses for not less than 60 days or more than 60 months. 

• Refusing to vacate designated front seats and designated wheelchair areas in buses for senior citizens and people with disabilities when requested by those persons or by the driver on their behalf.

• Eating or drinking with the exception of bus operators who have permission to do so when vehicles are not in motion.

• Using an audio device (e.g. portable radio, tape, CD player, TV, etc.), unless such equipment is used with earphones so that sound is limited to person’s own listening only

• Standing in front of the standee line at the front of the bus near the driver’s seat.

• Bringing any animal on buses un-caged, except working animals that assist those with disabilities. Caged animals must fit on customer’s lap.

• Bringing on-board any large articles, packages, baggage, non-collapsible strollers or baby buggies which block the aisle and restrict the free movement of passengers.

• Engaging in indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which such conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance. This is not intended to prohibit ordinary conversation between passengers in normal conversational tones.

• Having distracting conversations with Transit System Bus Operators.

• Engaging in unauthorized canvassing, selling, soliciting or distributing any material on-board buses or at Transit System facilities.

• Changing a child’s diaper.

• Exhibiting inappropriate personal hygiene, i.e., an individual whose bodily hygiene is so offensive as to constitute a nuisance to other passengers.

• Roller-skating, roller-blading, or skateboarding on buses.

• Hanging or swinging from stanchions or other bus equipment with feet off the floor.

• Hanging out, reaching out, or putting anything out of bus windows.

• Willfully refusing to pay a fare, or show specific fare media to the bus operator.

• Otherwise disorderly or inappropriate conduct which is inconsistent with the orderly and comfortable use of buses for their intended purpose

IV. Level II Inappropriate Conduct on Buses or in Other Facilities 

The following conduct is prohibited in all Transit System facilities, including but not limited to, buses, Transfer Points, park & ride lots, and bus shelters/stops except as specifically limited below. Any individual observed engaging in the conduct may be told by a Bus Operator or Supervisor or other authorized individual to leave the facilities immediately and may be subject to arrest by proper authorities. The Bus Operator is authorized to request police assistance if necessary. These offenses may also subject passenger(s) to the Exclusion Procedure, described in Section VI; further legal action may be taken as applicable and appropriate. Smoking on buses. (See Section V below concerning lighting an incendiary device (e.g. matches, lighter, or torch).

• Bringing any items of a dangerous nature on-board buses including: weapons (pistols, rifles, knives or swords); flammable liquids; dangerous, toxic or poisonous substances; vessels containing caustic materials, chemicals, acids or alkalis; fishing rods which are not broken down or have unsecured or exposed hooks or lures, ski poles unless secured to skis or have tip covers; sheet glass and sharp objects. Fencing foils must be sheathed and left at the front of the bus with the bus operator.

Raleigh City Code, Section 13-2010 (d)

• Behavior that is disruptive, harassing, or threatening in nature to the Transit System passengers or employees. This includes following or stalking passengers or employees.

• Causing sounds that are unreasonable and highly disruptive of other individuals using the Transit System facilities or services, including but not limited to: prolonged loud, abusive, indecent, profane or drunken conduct.

• Misuse of fare media.

• Drinking alcoholic beverages or possessing open containers of alcoholic beverages.

• Otherwise disorderly or inappropriate conduct which is inconsistent with the safe and orderly use of transit facilities for their intended purpose

N.C. G.S. 14-275.1

• No person may bring any animal on or into any transit vehicle or facility unless enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers. 

• This does not apply to working dogs for law enforcement agencies, to service animals, or to animals which are being trained as service animals and are accompanying persons with disabilities, or to animals which are being trained as service animals by a professional trainer. All service animals and animals being trained as service animals must be harnessed or leashed. 

• Upon request by a police officer or designated employee of the Authority, a trainer must display proof of affiliation with a professional training school and that the animal is a licensed service animal or an animal being trained as a service animal. Upon request of a police officer or designated Authority personnel, a passenger must provide evidence that an animal claimed to be a service animal. Such evidence may be supplied through: the display of a service animal license issued by a professional training school or by other governmental agencies in North Carolina or elsewhere authorized to issue such licenses, the display of an identification from a professional training school that the animal is trained service animal, the presence of a harness or a marking on a harness, or the credible verbal assurances of the person with a disability using the service animal or animal being trained as such. For purposes of this paragraph, credible verbal assurances may include a description of one or more tasks that the animal performs or is being trained to perform for the benefit of the person with a disability. 

• As an alternative to any of the methods for providing evidence that an animal meets the definition of service animal, persons with disabilities who use service animals who do not have a service animal license or other written documentation that the accompanying animal is a service animal may apply to a professional training school for a service animal designation. 

• Law enforcement officers or designated Authority personnel have the right to refuse admission to or eject any passenger accompanied by an animal, including a service animal, which poses a direct threat to the safety of other passengers.

V. Level III Inappropriate Conduct/Emergency Situations

The following conduct in all Transit System vehicles and facilities, including buses, Transfer Points, Park and Ride Lots and bus shelters/stops will be cause for police intervention, arrest and/or prosecution. An emergency situation can be defined as any situation in which an individual’s actions present an imminent danger to the life or safety of him/her or others, or to Transit System property. The Bus Operator is authorized to request police assistance. An individual found to have engaged in any of the following activities will be excluded from transit facilities and/or services pursuant to the process in Section VI, Exclusion Procedure.

• Use of counterfeit or stolen fare media

• Assault or threat of assault.

• Stealing or willfully damaging, defacing or destroying Transit System property. The City will prosecute anyone who steals or willfully damages, defaces or destroys Transit System property.

• Lighting an incendiary device (e.g. match, lighter, torch).

• Obstructing or interfering with the Bus Operator’s safe operation of the bus

• Indecent exposure

• Fighting

VI. Transit Exclusion Procedure

After staff determine that there have been repeated or serious incidents of inappropriate conduct by an individual, and it is determined that the individual involved should be excluded from transit facilities and/or services or that conditions should be placed on the individual’s continued use thereof:

A. The City’s Transit Administrator will issue, or cause to be issued, to the individual involved a written exclusion letter from the Transit System facilities, including services as may be warranted. The letter shall indicate the reasons for the exclusion, the time period of the exclusion, and the facilities and/or services to which the exclusion order applies. If continued use of transit facilities and/or services is made subject to safety conditions or restrictions (e.g. presence of a parent or guardian in the case of a minor; accompaniment by a personal care attendant or aide), a conditional exclusion letter may be issued specifying that the individual will be subject to exclusion unless the imposed restrictions are complied with. The letter shall also advise the individual of his/her right to appeal the decision and include a copy of the appeal procedure. The Transit System General Manager shall provide a copy of the letter  to the City’s Transit Administrator and will inform all staff involved, who have a need to know, about the reasons for and length of the exclusion.

B. At the discretion of the Transit Administrator, a minor may be restricted to use the Transit System services only when the minor is accompanied by a responsible designated adult for a designated period of time. The minor’s parent or guardian must be notified of the restriction via U.S. mail. Failure to abide by the restriction may lead to exclusion under this policy.

VII. Appeal Procedure

1.       A. Any appeal by or on behalf of the party subject to an exclusion order shall be submitted in writing to the Transit Administrator within thirty (30) days of denial of service. The letter shall state with specificity the grounds for the appeal. The Transit Administrator shall review and may reconsider or modify the decision to exclude an individual, following investigation of the matter and shall specify in writing within thirty (30) business days of receipt of the appeal the reasons for rescission or modification, if applicable, to the appellant. 
   
   B. Upon notification the appellant may appeal the Transit Administrator’s decision, the City’s Transit staff will return a letter of response to the appellant notifying him/her of the time and place of the hearing in front of the City’s Transit Appeals Panel. 

1.      The appeals request letter must be submitted to the City of Raleigh Transit Administrator or appointed representative.  It must be submitted in a sealed envelope, marked as 

City of Raleigh Public Works, Transit System,  c/o Transit Administrator, P.O. Box 590 Raleigh,     North Carolina 27602. 

1.      The Transit Administrator shall appoint a special Transit Exclusion Appeals Board consisting of three Panel members or their designees that will meet to hear the appeal. This special Board shall hold a hearing within thirty (30) days after the notice has been filed. A notice of the hearing including a statement of the time, place and nature of the hearing shall be mailed to the aggrieved party by the City’s Transit staff. Exclusion orders for Level I, Level II and Level III violations shall not be stayed pending an appeal.

1.      The three Panel members or their designees will meet to review an appeal. Panel members will disqualify themselves should they have a conflict of interest that would bias their decision on the individual's eligibility appeal. Panel members will have an opportunity to review the appeals letter and supplemental information provided by the applicant as well as any added information provided by the City’s Transit Staff. Panel members and City staff will treat all information as confidential.

The appellant and his/her representative (if any) will be notified of the hearing date, time and location. The appellant may attend the hearing, if he/she chooses, accompanied by his/her representative and one attendant. 

The Appeals Hearing is confidential and is NOT a public meeting.

On the day of the Hearing:

1.      The three members meeting to hear the appeal shall first choose one member to act as chairperson.

2.      Staff shall introduce the appellant to panel members and review the determination of reinstatement of Transit service.

3.      Appellant and staff each will have equal time (10 minutes) to present evidence specific to eligibility before the Appeals Panel.

4.      Panel members may ask questions, after presentation by appellant and staff, at their discretion.

5.      Upon completion of questions, the appellant is informed:

6.            A decision on eligibility status will be made within thirty days (state date).

1.           If a Panel decision is not made by the 31st day, the appellant may request use of Transit service until a decision is made.

2.      Panel members will then discuss the appellant's case and evidence, after appellant and staff are excused. The Panel shall deliberate cases as necessary. They shall either come to a common conclusion on eligibility or vote on determination of eligibility. The Panel shall then state their reasons for their decision, adding any special conditions for eligibility or denial of service.

3.      The Panel decision is communicated in writing to the applicant within 30 days of completion of the appeals process.

The decisions of the Appeals Panel is a final administrative review. 

VIII. Non-Compliance with Exclusion Order: Trespassing
If an individual subject to an exclusion order enters the specified facilities or services before the return date listed in the exclusion letter, police will be called and individual will be subject to arrest for trespassing under. NC GS Chapter 14 Article 22B