[bobthepanda]

Conductors not enforcing laws is mostly a manner of safety and liability. Conductors are not trained police officers, so them trying to enforce laws will probably end up poorly for them, most likely severely injured or killed. And then Caltrain would have to deal with an injured/dead employee and also whatever the perpetrator was doing in the first place.

Requiring police training for a conductor position would probably just make the job impossible to hire for.

[supernova87a]

Your relative sense of what's possible and proper contributes to the lack of impetus to enforce rules and have real consequences .

Cities on the East Coast, cities in Europe, Asia, conductors are always checking tickets, and in some cases have police powers. In New York, not having a ticket can get you arrested. Same in many other cities.

Here, on Caltrain, all they can do is make you get off at the next stop. You don't even have to show your ID if you don't want to. Tell me what that incentivizes for people cheating the system?

[bobthepanda]

As someone from New York, this information is incomplete and incorrect.

Tickets are not checked on the bus and subway. Fare enforcement is done by NYPD, the local police department consisting of police officers.

Tickets are checked on the commuter rail, but conductors only really are empowered to ask people to pay the onboard fare, which is higher than purchasing a ticket at a machine or at an office outside the train. Conductors can call police, but are not able to make arrests or use physical force to remove farebeaters from trains.

[supernova87a]

What I meant is that they sure as hell check every ticket, every rider. And people seem to understand that not having one is serious. Not like here.