Article: Tram inspectors pushed to meet their quotas

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Tram inspectors pushed to meet their quotas

Tram inspectors pushed to meet their quotas

TICKET inspectors have been ordered to fine at least one commuter every two hours.

The shock target is revealed in confidential documents that contradict claims by Yarra Trams it does not set quotas.

Melbourne's tram operator also set a target of catching more than 60,000 commuters over a nine-month period.

The State Government knew of the targets through monthly reports sent by Yarra Trams.

Some of those confidential reports have been obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws.

The documents show Yarra Trams fell short of its targets, issuing about 49,000 fines -- worth about $8.5 million -- over the nine-month period.

Fines start at $172, from which the operator gets $30.

Despite the targets outlined in the reports, Yarra Trams denies it sets quotas.

"Authorised officers work in accordance with the Transport Act and regulations as well as a code of conduct," spokesman Colin Tyrus said.

The figures in the documents were key performance indicators for the Department of Transport, he said.

But a tram industry source said fine targets did exist.

A woman aged in her late 80s was recently booked despite the fact the Department of Transport would not send her a fine because of her age, the source said.

From July 2008 until April this year, Yarra Trams set a "target" for each inspector to write 0.48 reports every hour, or one every 125 minutes.

Over that time, the target was 2601 reports a week, except during January, February and April, when the target was 1918.

But inspectors failed to meet that target every month, the highest being 1476 a week in September 2008 and again in March 2009.

Mr Tyrus said fare evasion had fallen from 23 per cent of passengers in 1999 to 13 per cent in 2008-09.

Public Transport Users Association president said there should not be quotas.

"They should be applying the rules fairly and reasonably, and trying to help passengers, not chasing quotas," Mr Bowen said.

"The use of quotas could result in a fine for a passenger who might otherwise get the benefit of the doubt."

Mr Bowen said there had been many cases of passengers being fined unfairly since conductors were removed, including a man "too short to reach the Metcard machine coin slot".

Unwitting tourists had also been fined.

"The system almost invites confrontation," he said.

Connex did not set targets for inspectors, but did monitor the number of reports as an indication of what may be expected in the future, spokesman John Rees said.