Article: Crackdown as fare evasion surges

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Crackdown as fare evasion surges

Crackdown as fare evasion surges

    Nick Leys
    From: Herald Sun
    May 30, 2011 12:00AM

FARE evasion on Melbourne's public transport system is at a five-year high, with 13 per cent of commuters choosing a free ride.

Fare evaders now take more than 225,000 trips each weekday, according to Metlink, which is fighting back with increased enforcement by transport officers and an advertising campaign.

Metlink spokesman Michelle Herbert said the campaign would send the message that fare evasion would not be tolerated.

"Fare evaders are costing the Victorian community $80 million a year," she said.

"This is lost money that could be used to pay for new vehicles and extra services.

"They are not only ripping off the system, they are ripping off the people who do the right thing and always travel with a valid ticket," she said.

Transport officers checked more than 2.6 million tickets in the first four months of 2011, resulting in 36,000 fines.

The spike in freeloading is in contrast to 2007/08 figures, which showed 7.7 per cent of commuters were not paying for tickets.

Ms Herbert said the increase had nothing to do with the introduction of the Myki automated ticketing system last year: "The main type of fare evasion continues to be people travelling with no ticket at all, so their behaviour certainly isn't affected by the type of ticketing system in place."

Adults travelling without a valid ticket face fines of up to $176; passengers under the age of 18 face fines of $60.