Connex doesn't like passengers, and it shows

[ozbob]

Very interesting perspective ...  timely in view of the blitz!

Connex doesn't like passengers, and it shows

From Melbourne Age click here!

Connex doesn't like passengers, and it shows

Christopher Scanlon
January 23, 2008

Our transport companies could learn a lot from the Japanese.

OF ALL the wonders of the Tokyo subway and train network, by far the greatest are the ticket machines. The Shinkansen, or bullet train, the labyrinth that is the Tokyo subway system and the punctuality of the trains are all amazing feats of human ingenuity, design and organisation. Next to the ticket machines, though, they pale by comparison.

The machines I have in mind aren't technically ticket machines at all, since they don't even dispense tickets. Rather, they enable travellers to add value to their tickets. They're called "fare-adjustment" machines and they're located just inside the barrier gates of almost every station. You enter your ticket into the machine and it tells you how much credit you need to add to go through the station exit barriers.

The genius of the fare adjustment machine doesn't lie in the technology itself. No doubt manufacturers of ticket machines could knock one together in an afternoon.

Rather, the genius of the fare-adjustment machine is the culture of which it is a product. The lowly fare adjustment machine is a concrete expression of a culture that is determined to serve customers and help them to do the right thing.

The fare-adjustment machine doesn't make any presumptions about why

you didn't purchase the correct ticket in the first place. You could be trying to cheat the system or you could be a clueless tourist who's struggling with the sensory overload of Tokyo and innocently bought the wrong ticket.

The fare-adjustment machines don't care and the message they send is that as far as the transport authorities are concerned, a commuters' intentions are none of their business. The authorities simply want you to do the right thing, and have set up a system that is flexible enough to help you do so.

The difference between this service-oriented culture and Melbourne's public transport is striking. In Melbourne, the prevailing attitude of public transport operators is one of barely concealed contempt. Commuters seem to be regarded as enemies who are presumed guilty until proven innocent. The public transport operators are beset by a fearful siege mentality: one that presumes that customers are sneaks, frauds and cheats, and constitutionally incapable of doing the right thing even if they tried.

Of course, that's not to say that all commuters are angels. Many are serial fare evaders either because they have never accepted the privatisation of the public transport system and are unwilling to support the private operators or because they simply don't want to pay. Figures published on the Connex website estimate that fare evasion costs the public transport system $30 million to $50 million each year.

Melbourne's public transport operators appear to have very little interest in changing this situation. The contempt they have for commuters has conferred a kind of anti-hero status on fare evaders. Even people, such as me, who dutifully buy tickets cheer when hearing of the exploits of serial fare evaders who proudly claim not to have bought a ticket in months.

Changing this situation requires a change to the culture of how commuters are treated. In this regard, Melbourne could learn a thing or two from the Tokyo public transport authorities. This doesn't mean installing fare-adjustment machines at every train station. The costs of doing so would be prohibitive. It would require the installation of exit barriers and considerable redesign of almost every station.

Rather, Melbourne's public transport authorities could learn from the service culture that the fare-adjustment machine embodies.

One simple suggestion is to change how inspectors deal with suspected fare evaders. Rather than fining those without a ticket, ticket inspectors should be given the authority and the means to sell fare evaders a ticket. This would recognise that people have many reasons for not having a ticket. They might be serial fare evaders, or they might not have had the right money.

If potential fare evaders do not have the money to buy a ticket, then fair enough, book them. They're fair game. It's clear that they never intended to buy a ticket. If they can buy a ticket, but didn't have the right change for the machine, as is often the case, then they would have an opportunity to do the right thing without further questioning.

While those with the siege mentality probably have a long list of why this can't be done, it's unlikely that any barrier is insurmountable. After all, Melbourne's public transport system had something like this for years. They were called "conductors" and many people miss them.

Over the long term, this simple change could produce savings on the administrative costs of cracking down on fare evaders. More importantly though, this small step would show that Melbourne's public transport operators are interested in serving, rather than punishing, their customers. Who knows? It might be the start of winning back the hearts and minds of Melbourne's jaded public transport users.

Christopher Scanlon is a lecturer in the media studies program at La Trobe University and a co-editor of Arena Magazine.