Keep missing the transit fare scanners

I’m fairly new to Seattle and a fan of public transportation, but I keep missing the fare scanners since they’re pretty discreet and not always obvious. I’ve also noticed that when I board buses in the city, it seems like a fair number of people don’t pay. Is this intentional, like part of a design to reduce barriers to transit? For an agency that’s in debt, I would have expected fare enforcement to be more visible (like NYC’s efforts) so I’m trying to understand the thinking.