Article: Victorian public transport fare cheats rip us off $80 million

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From the Herald Sun click here!

Victorian public transport fare cheats rip us off $80 million

Victorian public transport fare cheats rip us off $80 million

    * Ashley Gardiner
    * From: Herald Sun
    * February 08, 2011 12:00AM

FARE evasion on the public transport system has soared following the introduction of the troubled myki smartcard.

As many as one in five tram travellers have been getting a free ride after the former government ordered inspectors to go soft on myki users.

Train operator Metro conceded fare evasion was "high", but has vowed to crack down on cheats.

Figures obtained by the Herald Sun reveal myki users are about twice as likely to be getting a free ride as Metcard users.

Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder said fare evasion was costing up to $80 million a year.

"This is money that would be invested back into the transport network, so fare evaders are ripping off all public transport users," Mr Mulder said.

Fare evasion, already growing, worsened last year with the introduction of myki and a soft approach to enforcement.

"There was a clear message to ticket inspectors and operators to back off," Mr Mulder said.

Fare cheating on trams has more than doubled since 2007-08.

The survey done last October for Metlink found almost 19 per cent of people on trams did not have a valid ticket.

Yarra Trams spokesman Colin Tyrus said fewer ticket checks were done during a myki "educational period" but enforcement operations were now back to normal.

"Authorised officers patrol the network checking tickets and providing customer service from first tram to last," Mr Tyrus said.

The survey found that 11 per cent of train travellers did not have a valid ticket, up from 6.3 per cent in 2007-08.

Metro spokeswoman Geraldine Mitchell said all passengers were expected to have a valid ticket.

"During the transition to the new ticketing system, a more lenient approach to ticket enforcement was adopted," Ms Mitchell said.

"But we will now be increasing ticket checks across the network."

The survey showed the Sandringham line had the highest rate of fare evasion, 16.8 per cent, while the lowest rate was on the Epping-Hurstbridge lines (6.4 per cent).

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said it was no surprise myki had led to more fare evasion.

The system suffered reliability problems last year and officers had problems with their hand-held myki checking devices.

"Fare evaders were able to abuse the system by carrying around a myki card with no money on it," Mr Bowen said.

A State Government review of myki is expected soon.