Fare evaders !

Driving a bus in Sydney is a challenging job.  Not only do drivers have to cope with the city's traffic snarls but they also have the responsibility of checking that passengers have the correct ticket for the intended journey - and that can lead to physical assault.

Fare evasion has been a long running problem on Sydney trains, buses and ferries.   The relentless need to cut costs has seen a depletion in the number of State Transit Authority inspectors tasked with keeping fare evasion to a minimum.  At present, just seven inspectors are expected to cover the fifteen thousand daily city services.

It has become a no win situation for drivers.  Statistics show that 41% of driver assaults originated from a demand to check the validity of a ticket, and pre-paid tickets headed the list of arguments between drivers and passengers.

There seems to be an evolving answer to this ticket problem, but it has been making slow progress in application.    We are heading towards a replication of London's very successful " Oyster " card ticket system and this is being introduced selectively on ferries.  Hopefully, it will extend to all trains and buses - but don't hold your breath waiting !

Paying cash when you board a bus simply adds to journey time and the need for speed ushered in the pre-paid ticket.   The great benefit of the Oyster card system is that it can electronically deduct the fare from the passengers card balance and this happens when it is swiped over a card reader.   Future driver/passenger fare arguments will occur when a passenger's card lacks the balance to meet the fare, or when they ignore the need to swipe their card over the reader.

In the past, fare evasion became almost an art form.  Evaders gave false names and addresses and the debt recovery office has a deficit running into millions in unpaid fines.   Transit officers lacked arrest powers or the authority to demand evidence of identity - and this was exploited ruthlessly  by hordes of people who believed that public transport should be free.

Now that Transit Officers are replaced by police and we live in an electronic age, new ways of solving this problem are at hand.   Along with the Oyster card, bringing fare evasion into the twenty-first century moves the offence higher if it is considered an economic crime - and punished accordingly.

A driver should not have the task of facing down a passenger who fails to pay a fare.   Our buses already have a radio link and it should be a simple matter of activating a " fare evaded " signal to alert the police control room - and start a signal light flashing on the bus roof.

The government would expect police to treat fare evasion seriously.    It is as assault on state revenue - and it is a crime.   If fare evaders could expect the nearest police car to pull the bus over, board it and arrest the culprit - fare evasion would drop dramatically.

It would also enhance driver safety.  Navigating the Sydney traffic maize is a difficult enough job without adding fighting passengers for the correct fare to complicate that job !