Today’s sorry lesson about crime and impunity in America’s cities comes courtesy of Washington, D.C., where the farebox on the bus is more like an offering plate. More than a third of the bus trips now being taken involve fare evasion, but last week the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said it will crack down beginning in November.

The Metro transit authority says free riders are committing a criminal offense if they’re in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs that surround the capital. But some four years ago, the D.C. City Council decriminalized fare evasion over a mayoral veto. Within city limits, fare dodgers face a mere $50 civil citation. In the old days they might have been staring down a $300 fine and 10 days in jail.