Fare evasion - articles discussion ...

[Otto]

.
Would be nice if SNO's actually checked gocards and tickets instead of boarding a bus and then just sit down to discuss their weekend plans and disembark at the end of the trip.
I've come across SNO's that don't even know which zone they are in.
I've even pointed out to SNO's when a person has boarded in zone 2 with a 1 zone paper ticket who intend to travel to the City zone 1 and the SNO's have done nothing.

I've just given up......... Let everyone travel free...... I no longer care.......

State Govt and BCC (T4B) need to get their acts together and not throw opposing views at drivers.

Before Translink took over the BCC bus operations, I was having tickets inspected at least 4 times a month. Inspectors could board anywhere, anytime. Completely random.

Under Translink, lucky to have Gocards/tickets checked 5 times a year, and the SNO's will only be seen on high frequency corridors 99% of the time .

There's a lot more I can say, but I've said enough.

The above is My Opinion Only and does not refer to any individuals

A question I have is, Why do SNO's have a high attrition rate ? The answer could be interesting...

[ozbob]

Thanks Otto
Way past the time for a proper public transport authority..

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> The $25m crime State Government plans to eliminate

BUS drivers have applauded the Palaszczuk Government decision to employ an extra 16 Senior Network Officers to crackdown on fare evasion on public transport and unacceptable behaviour.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said a significant jump in fare evaders on public transport, particularly school buses, was costing about $25 million a year in lost revenue.

He said there had been 1.53 million separate acts of fare evasion on school buses alone.

The officers, known as SNOs, have the power to detain fare evaders and those behaving in a manner threatening to other passengers.

They can require customers to produce a valid ticket, show evidence of concessional requirement, require information such as name, address, age and evidence of these under certain situations.

SNOs could also require customers to leave public transport infrastructure and use force where necessary.

They can detain a person who has committed a detainable offence and use handcuffs to do so.

Bus driver representative Greg Eaves of Bribie Island Coaches praised the move, which he said brought numbers to levels previously recommended by a Bus Safety Forum comprising bus operators, drivers, unions, Education Queensland, the Morcombe Foundation and others.

Mr Eaves said there was also a need to extend the government's school Step Up campaign from prep to Year 12 to ensure showing a bus pass was the norm and not simply an option.

He said there was no quick fix with behaviour often a consequence of upbringing and environment.

Mr Bailey said the 1.53 million school bus fare evasions last year was up on the 875,000 the year before.

"That trend was mirrored on urban bus services, where there were almost 600,000 more fare evasions in 2017/18, compared to the 1.06 million the year before," he said.

"The majority of passengers do the right thing and pay their way, but we clearly have a growing problem with fare evasion on public transport.

"The government has a duty of care to ensure the safety of passengers but some of them, particularly older teenagers, are taking advantage of that.

"Bus drivers have told us about groups of young people who demand free travel, telling the drivers they have to let them on or the drivers could lose their job."

The employment drive would boost the number of SNOs on the network from 55 to 71.

Mr Bailey said the SNOs did and excellent job and last financial year handed out 17,000 fines for public transport ticketing offences.

"We're committed to ensuring young and vulnerable passengers can get home safely but we need to have the conversation with our community about fare evasion and the best way to deal with it," he said.

A round table next month would include experts across government, the community services and education sectors to share views on how to discourage fare evasion and address associated behavioural issues.

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/3/14/roundtable-more-officers-to-target-fare-evasion

Media Statements
Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey
Thursday, March 14, 2019

Roundtable, more officers to target fare evasion

Sixteen officers are being recruited to boost ticket inspector numbers to combat a surge in fare evasion on Queensland's public transport.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said a significant jump in fare evaders on public transport, particularly school buses, was costing about $25 million a year in lost revenue.

"Last financial year, Queensland's school bus drivers recorded more than 1.53 million fare evasions, compared to about 875,000 the year before," Mr Bailey said.

"That trend was mirrored on urban bus services, where there were almost 600,000 more fare evasions in 2017/18, compared to the 1.06 million the year before.

"The majority of passengers do the right thing and pay their way, but we clearly have a growing problem with fare evasion on public transport.

"The government has a duty of care to ensure the safety of passengers but some of them, particularly older teenagers, are taking advantage of that.

"Bus drivers have told us about groups of young people who demand free travel, telling the drivers they have to let them on or the drivers could lose their job.

"This kind of behaviour can cause other passengers to feel unsafe and more free rides means less revenue for new and improved public transport services."

Mr Bailey said he had instructed TransLink to hire up to 16 new Senior Network Officers (SNOs) to add to the current pool of 55 officers that patrol all modes of public transport.

"The SNOs do an excellent job and boosting their numbers will give us a greater presence across the network," Mr Bailey said.

"Officers handed out more than 17,000 fines for public transport ticketing offences last financial year, but it's not possible to have SNOs on every bus, train, tram or ferry.

"We're committed to ensuring young and vulnerable passengers can get home safely but we need to have the conversation with our community about fare evasion and the best way to deal with it."

Mr Bailey said a roundtable would be held next month, inviting experts across government, the community services and education sectors to share their views on how to discourage fare evasion and address associated behavioural issues.

"Our public transport officers target known fare evasion hotspots, carry out joint operations with police and present education programs at schools, but clearly more needs to be done," Mr Bailey said.

"We'll use it as an opportunity to discuss policy options, enforcement, penalties and whether we need more education or early intervention programs.

"It will also look at how our frontline staff deal with fare evasion and discuss whether legislative changes would have an impact.

"There are no easy answers on this challenging social issue and we'll be drawing on the expertise and contributions from stakeholders across government and industry and the community sector to help us develop an action plan on fare evasion."


ENDS

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Minister asked to explain 'dodgy' fare evasion tactics

MEMBER for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson has today asked Transport Minister Mark Bailey to "get serious" about tackling fare evasion and security issues on public transport and explain why his claims about extra transport officers on Sunshine Coast buses don't stack up.

Ms Simpson said the Minister claimed transport officers, or Senior Network Officers (SNOs), were deployed on Sunshine Coast Sunbus services a total of 572 times in 2018, during which time they issued only 12 penalty infringement notices and 215 warnings to fare evaders.

Ms Simpson is asking the Minister to explain why only 12 infringement notices were issued in 2018 during the 572 times SNOs were allegedly deployed on the Sunshine Coast, compared to 27 being issued during the 30 times SNOs were here in 2017 and 19 issued during the 31 times SNOs were here in 2016.

"Clearly something is wrong and the current system is failing," Ms Simpson said.

"Bus passengers tell me they've never seen a transport officer on a Sunshine Coast bus and they're sick of people getting away with riding on the bus for free, yet the Minister claims that they were here 572 times last year.

"But during 2018 the Minister claims they only issued 12 penalty infringement notices, compared to more than double that number (27) in 2017, while only being deployed 30 times on our buses."

Ms Simpson said she welcomed the Mr Bailey's announcement that an additional 16 transport officers were being recruited to tackle the growing problem of fare evasion on Queensland's public transport, but called for more SNOs to be deployed on the Sunshine Coast and for stronger action to crack down on fare evasion and security issues on the region's buses.

"We need transport officers to be deployed here on a regular basis, rather than the odd trip up the Coast from Brisbane and they should be handing out tickets for fare evasion, not warnings," Ms Simpson said.

"The majority of bus users are law-abiding citizens and they want peace of mind that they can travel safely on our buses, knowing that deliberate fare evasion and thuggish behaviour won't be tolerated.

"I want to see more SNOs travelling on Sunshine Coast buses and monitoring our bus stations to tackle this problem more effectively."

Mr Bailey and TMR have been contacted for comment.

[techblitz]

@garden city recently I witnessed a 599 driver telling all fare evading school children that translink are now capturing photos and sending them to the repective schools......whether this is actually true remains to be seen..but if its not true then it really just goes to show how much drivers are getting sick of it...

IMHO hey need to get more strategic and get serious.

If teens are the majority fare evaders then they need to start doing blitzes at stations like kawana,sunshine plaza,pac fair,westfields etc.....even just a simple presence every now and then will make kids think twice before boarding without a ticket at one of these major shopping centres.....if a youngster tries to board without a ticket then they are directed to an sno first to have their details taken before they board for their free trip.
Details passed on to TMR of which should be allowed to pursue the parents for payments once their childs fare evasion hits a certain level...

[Otto]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/3/14/roundtable-more-officers-to-target-fare-evasion

Media Statements
Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey
Thursday, March 14, 2019

Roundtable, more officers to target fare evasion

Sixteen officers are being recruited to boost ticket inspector numbers to combat a surge in fare evasion on Queensland's public transport.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said a significant jump in fare evaders on public transport, particularly school buses, was costing about $25 million a year in lost revenue.."

ENDS

Caught up with some SNO's i know last night. They confirmed what I thought. The sixteen will only replace some that had left. Will still be less than the 70 they had a few years ago.

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Gold Coast fare evasion: Student fare evasion on Surfside buses triples costing hundreds of thousands of dollars

Almost 4000 Gold Coast students are evading bus fares each school day, costing taxpayers half a million dollars more annually than it did just three years ago.

School bus fare evasions are soaring, having tripled in three years, prompting Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey to convene a stakeholder group to combat it.

Mr Bailey is ruling out making school bus runs free saying it's a "minority" abusing a system designed to ensure no kid is left behind.

The "fare evade" button on Gold Coast Surfside school bus runs was hit 763,944 times in 2017-18, triple the 238,195 hits just two years earlier, shock TransLink figures reveal.

Soaring fare evasion has been matched by a 51 per cent fall in revenue from Gold Coast school bus fares for the same period.

In 2015-16, State Government earned $908,322 in revenue from school bus services. By 2017-18 this had fallen to just $436,945.

The fare evade button was hit 1.67 million times overall on Surfside buses - on school runs and general public runs - for 2017-18.

The driver presses the button when a student passenger says they do not have the money to pay.

Bus drivers are not allowed to leave students on the side of the road as a result of reforms following the 2003 abduction and murder of Sunshine Coast teen Daniel Morcombe.

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey, whose question in State Parliament secured the data, said the escalation was "worrying".

"Student fare evade counts have more than tripled in three years and fare revenue has more than halved which amounts half a million dollars in lost revenue," she said.

"The culture of not paying and cheating on paying fares has escalated in worrying numbers and students who deliberately refuse to pay are setting a bad example to others to do the same and inflaming adult passengers who do pay.

"This behaviour left unchecked is setting our youth on a path to petty theft and worse."

Mr Bailey admitted it was a growing issue and vowed to tackle it.

"Last financial year, Queensland's school bus drivers recorded more than 1.53 million fare evasions, compared to about 875,000 the year before," he said.

"The majority of passengers do the right thing and pay but we clearly have a growing problem with fare evasion."

TransLink will hire 16 new staff to a 55-strong senior network officer (SNO) team to patrol public transport and dish out fines.

Mr Bailey is hosting a roundtable meeting next month with drivers plus experts from government, education and community to strategise dealing with it.

Mr Bailey said fare evasion spiked during school runs most afternoons: "Most pay but a few are taking advantage of our provision of a service that makes sure people are safe.

"Clearly there is a substantial number of students taking advantage of it and that's not fair and we will be dealing with it."

Asked if the problem was so widespread that he should consider free school bus runs, Mr Bailey said it was 75 per cent subsidised already: "I don't think so.

"I suspect quite a few parents would be surprised to hear their child hasn't been paying fares."

Keebra Park State High student Mariah Stuart, 17, said students shouldn't have to pay for school runs.

"But we should on public busses," she said. "I don't always have enough money left on my card and the school bus drivers can be really rude about it.

"Some get mad when you don't pay. Drivers yell at the first few then everyone pushes on anyway."

Fellow Keebra Park student Phoenix Hetherington, 14, said most students don't pay: "There's no point paying - it should be free.

"Some kids can't afford it. No one ever really pays."

Benowa State High School student Quinn Caerpinael, 17, said he doesn't think anyone should have to pay for public transport but still does himself.

"Usually (I pay), it depends sometimes it runs out and you're like oops I don't have money," he said.

[verbatim9]

^^I hope they can get on top of this? Its important to teach kids when they are young and to ensure they take responsibility for their actions. School fares with a Go card are very minimal. It also provides important Data to ensure proper timetabling and extra buses if need be.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/MarkBaileyMP/status/1118378438677671937

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/9NewsGoldCoast/status/1118403914355945472

[ozbob]

The round table is going around in circles ... 

I suspect fare evasion rates will go even higher after this effort ... 

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1118424780946829312

[verbatim9]

The Gold Coast bus and tram services are so bad for fare evasion. I was there a few weeks ago on a Saturday. Caught the tram to Helensvale and at Queen's St when the inspectors boarded and went through the team I noticed they nabbed at least 75% of passengers and we're writing infringements like printing out tickets.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> FARE SNUB: Teens abuse 'Daniel Morcombe policy'

TRANSPORT Minister Mark Bailey has announced a fare evasion roundtable after revealing 1.53 million public transport trips have been taken free of charge.

Mr Bailey said there was an increase in young patrons abusing the "Daniel Morcombe policy" for a free ride.

"There were 182.3 million trips taken on public transport in southeast Queensland in the last financial year."

Mr Bailey said free rides had almost doubled.

"We're often getting teenagers who will get on a bus and just tell a driver they don't have to pay and, if they try to do anything about it, they'll lose their jobs. That's really unreasonable and entirely unacceptable."

Last month, there was $25 million in lost revenue from fare evasions. But Mr Bailey ruled out scrapping the policy brought about after Daniel Morcombe's disappearance.

Transport and Main Roads passenger transport services general manager Martin Bradshaw said they did not want a child to be left behind, but understood the frustration of drivers. TransLink also said that the top contributing factor of bus driver assaults was conflict over fares, at 88 per cent.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/PaulDOKidd/status/1118671611203395584

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1118704548611149825

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/4/17/roundtable-sets-agenda-for-action-on-youth-fare-evasion

Media Statements
Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Roundtable sets agenda for action on youth fare evasion

Balancing a commitment to child safety while targeting deliberate youth fare evasion is the challenge ahead following the Youth Fare Evasion Roundtable at Parliament House.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said education campaigns targeting young people, working more closely with schools and parents to address fare evasion and harsher penalties for youth fare evaders were some of the suggestions raised at the event.

"Fare evasion across the south east Queensland public transport network costs Queenslanders about $25 million per year, and that's just the fare evaders our drivers spot," Mr Bailey said.

"There are complex and challenging reasons behind why people fare evade and a holistic approach is needed to address the issue.

"The majority of passengers do the right thing and pay their fare but we have seen a growing percentage of young people taking advantage of the government's commitment to child safety."

Mr Bailey said three key focus areas were discussed:

prevention and education

detection and enforcement

and penalties and deterrents.

"The common thread through the feedback we received from participants today was that everyone has a role to play if we are to reduce fare evasion," Mr Bailey said.

"Each attendee listed what they believed were the top three actions to follow and the Queensland Government will now review priority actions nominated by the group to determine our response to this growing issue."

Mr Bailey said a youth co-lab with teenage public transport users will also be held to gain further insight into youth fare evasion.   

Attendees at today's event included representatives from the education, police, university and justice sectors, as well as the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, Department of Transport and Main Roads, transport unions and the Queensland Bus Industry Council.

ENDS

[achiruel]

The Gold Coast bus and tram services are so bad for fare evasion. I was there a few weeks ago on a Saturday. Caught the tram to Helensvale and at Queen's St when the inspectors boarded and went through the team I noticed they nabbed at least 75% of passengers and we're writing infringements like printing out tickets.

At least there's actually inspectors on the trams catching the evaders. Whether they'll pay the fine or not is a different matter. But I can't recall they last time I saw an officer on a Gold Coast bus

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Fare evasion on some school buses hits 99.3 per cent

Almost every student on some school bus routes refuse to pay for their tickets.

The shocking figure was revealed at a roundtable convened at the Queensland Parliament on Wednesday, with educators, police, bus drivers and transport groups meeting to tackle a spike in fare evasion, which costs about $25 million a year in lost revenue.

Teenagers have allegedly been abusing the state's "no child left behind" policy, implemented after the death of schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, to avoid paying for tickets.

School bus drivers recorded more than 1.53 million fare evasions last financial year, up from 875,000 the previous year.

TransLink data can reveal drivers reported school bus fare evasion rates of up to 99.3 per cent on some routes.

Across the south-east Queensland network, the fare evasion rate was estimated at 6.5 per cent, however, on some urban buses it rose to up to 29 per cent.

Last year, TransLink issued more than 17,000 fines for fare evasion and 58,286 warnings.

People aged under 18 years do not receive fines but account for more than half of all warning notices.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the government was resolute in maintaining its "no child left behind" policy to ensure the safety of children on buses.

"I don't think rolling over and just giving in to people doing the wrong thing is the right thing to do," he said.

However, Mr Bailey said there were reports groups of teenagers had demanded free travel, telling bus drivers they could lose their job.

"This sort of behaviour can cause other passengers to feel unsafe and more free rides means less money for services and infrastructure," he said.

Mr Bailey said there was a spike in fare evasion between 8.30am to 9am and about 3pm.

Greens MP Michael Berkman has proposed making public transport free for every child in Queensland, at a cost of $56 million, to resolve the issue.

But Mr Bailey said the state government already heavily subsidised public transport.

"I think it's important that when you receive a service, that you should engage in paying for that, I don't think that's an unreasonable ask, and I think the community would support that," he said.

About one in four complaints to TransLink about fare evasion references young people.

One customer said: "I pay for every bus I take and I see so many people, mostly teens, claim to have no money and say 'You can't leave me here' to the driver ... I ask the drivers and they all said 'It's not worth being attacked'."

A bus driver said some young people considered buses to be a "free taxi".

"Many of these young persons do damage to buses. I have seen them squirt tomato sauce over seats, kick doors, harass other passengers, threaten myself ... If we refuse to take them we can be sacked," the driver said.

The roundtable planned to focus on education and prevention, detection and enforcement, and deterrents and penalties, with a proposal set to be developed and considered by the government.

[verbatim9]

The Gold Coast bus and tram services are so bad for fare evasion. I was there a few weeks ago on a Saturday. Caught the tram to Helensvale and at Queen's St when the inspectors boarded and went through the team I noticed they nabbed at least 75% of passengers and we're writing infringements like printing out tickets.

At least there's actually inspectors on the trams catching the evaders. Whether they'll pay the fine or not is a different matter. But I can't recall they last time I saw an officer on a Gold Coast bus

The buses are a huge target for fare evaders on the Coast. I have come across that many times, where the driver just waves groups of teenagers on to avoid conflict. It's probably the only solution unless they have some kind of alert button to contact authorities to board the bus and question the behaviour of the fare evaders.
It's a shame that teenagers many that are entitled to half fare will not pay a fare of $1.50 or less per trip.

[brissypete]

Given that go-card data updates in real time surely the fare evade button can send alerts to SNOs/Police at a certain level, they could then intercept the bus where possible.

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

[achiruel]

Given that go-card data updates in real time surely the fare evade button can send alerts to SNOs/Police at a certain level, they could then intercept the bus where possible.

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

I believe sometimes SNOs are allocated to routes/times that experience high levels of fare evasion, but I don't think it's done in a realtime manner.

I once caught a 760 that had 6 fare evaders board between Varsity Lakes and Coolangatta.

[ozbob]

Another approach ..

The Paris approach ..
' Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids 'https://t.co/tJ11oTZKmi

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) April 18, 2019

Toronto way ..
' TTC's 'kids ride free' program doubles child ridership 'https://t.co/JLWicr8eFC

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) April 18, 2019

Vancouver ..
' TransLink 'open to starting dialogue' on free transit for children, youths 'https://t.co/roE70Oxngx

No dialogue with the QLD TransLink. Shut down immediately by bumbling transport authorities. We really need to have better calibre people and approaches ..

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) April 18, 2019

[verbatim9]

TransLink - Yesterday, key stakeholders held a round table to set an agenda for action on youth fare evasion. The challenge being to balance the commitment to child safety, while still targeting deliberate youth fare evasion. To gain further insight into tackling this issue, a youth co-lab with teenage public transport users will also be held http://bit.ly/2ZjYPze

https://www.facebook.com/521288224563914/posts/3203950169631026/

[ozbob]

^
That's just links to the statement posted above > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9539.msg221513#msg221513

[ozbob]

Children can travel free on weekends under certain conditions:

https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/concessions/children

Children aged between 5 and 14 years travel free on the weekend when they touch on and off with an orange child go card. There must be money on the card (in addition to the card deposit), even when travelling free on the weekend.

[James]

This might be a bit controversial, but maybe schools should levy every school student aged from 4 to 15 a certain fee which covers the cost of catching the bus. In exchange, they get a card which can be used to access all PT for free. Tourists would still need to pay child fares, but this negates the issue of fate evasion being committed by local school students manipulating the "No child left behind" policy.

In the end it is the parents' responsibility to ensure their child has enough money to get to school by bus, this just shifts where payment is made.

[ozbob]

^ good idea James.  The present approaches are failing and just getting bus drivers particularly very upset  ( and rightly so too ).

[verbatim9]

TransLink - Yesterday, key stakeholders held a round table to set an agenda for action on youth fare evasion. The challenge being to balance the commitment to child safety, while still targeting deliberate youth fare evasion. To gain further insight into tackling this issue, a youth co-lab with teenage public transport users will also be held http://bit.ly/2ZjYPze

https://www.facebook.com/521288224563914/posts/3203950169631026/

^
That's just links to the statement posted above > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9539.msg221513#msg221513

This might be a bit controversial, but maybe schools should levy every school student aged from 4 to 15 a certain fee which covers the cost of catching the bus. In exchange, they get a card which can be used to access all PT for free. Tourists would still need to pay child fares, but this negates the issue of fate evasion being committed by local school students manipulating the "No child left behind" policy.

In the end it is the parents' responsibility to ensure their child has enough money to get to school by bus, this just shifts where payment is made.

Thought I would just repost, as it was a Translink publication. Any ideas are good ideas to curb fare evasion.  I hope the ideas portrayed above are discussed and taken onboard by the relevant people.

[ozbob]

Latest available stats from Melbourne Oct 2018

97.5 per cent of metropolitan train users, almost 97 per cent (96.8%) of tram travellers, 92 per cent of metropolitan bus passengers and more than 95 per cent (95.1%) of V/Line train passengers travelled with a valid ticket.

So rail metro 2.5% tram 3.2%, bus 8%, V/Line 4.9%

So fare evasion highest on bus.

https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/footer/data-and-reporting/revenue-protection-and-fare-compliance/  PTV has been a lot more transparent than the outfit here in Queensland, and have been a lot better organised.

(It seems that no matter what you look at, Queensland comes a miserable last with respect to transparency and proactive management ..)

[ozbob]

Latest from Sydney May 2018

Fare Compliance Survey results

Summary results from Fare Compliance Surveys for train, bus, ferries and light rail.

https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/reports-and-publications/fare-compliance-survey-results

Train 4.1%  Bus 6.6%  Ferries 6.1%  Light rail 7.2%

Transparent reporting.  Quite different from Queensland hey?  This lack of transparency is why things blow up.  They hide and internalise until it explodes!  No wonder it is difficult to have any confidence in the clowns here in banana-land  .. 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

20th April 2019

Non transparent culture does not help public transport in Queensland

Good Morning,

Been a lot of media attention lately about the fare evasion crisis on public transport in SEQ that has been developing for years. The Government was finally moved to have a round table: Roundtable sets agenda for action on youth fare evasion http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/4/17/roundtable-sets-agenda-for-action-on-youth-fare-evasion

Part of the problem is that there is a culture of non-transparency in public transport matters in Queensland, particularly when it comes to basic data that should be available such as route and line patronage and detailed ontime performance.  RAIL Back On Track, as does the media, often has to RTI for information that should be published regularly, not hidden from public view, and information that is publicly available in other jurisdictions.

An example to highlight the non transparency in Queensland. A quick web search will reveal fare detailed fare evasion rates and fare enforcement policies for NSW and Victoria.

Latest from Sydney May 2018
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/reports-and-publications/fare-compliance-survey-results

Summary results from Fare Compliance Surveys for train, bus, ferries and light rail.

Train 4.1%  Bus 6.6%  Ferries 6.1%  Light rail 7.2%

Transparent reporting.  Quite different from Queensland hey?  This lack of transparency is why things blow up.  They hide and internalise until it explodes!

Latest available stats from Melbourne Oct 2018
https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/footer/data-and-reporting/revenue-protection-and-fare-compliance/

97.5 per cent of metropolitan train users, almost 97 per cent (96.8%) of tram travellers, 92 per cent of metropolitan bus passengers and more than 95 per cent (95.1%) of V/Line train passengers travelled with a valid ticket.

So fare evasion rates are rail metro 2.5%, tram 3.2%, bus 8%, V/Line 4.9%.

So fare evasion highest on bus.

PTV has been a lot more transparent than the outfit here in Queensland, and have been a lot better organised for years.

What are the fare evasion rates for rail, bus, ferry and tram in SEQ?  Can't find them anywhere.  Guess we will have to RTI it?

Minister Bailey, you need to bring TransLink and TMR into the real world when it comes to timely reporting, and full transparency and reporting.

Everyone is tired of the transparency sham,  failure and mediocre games being played.

Thank you.

Best wishes,

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1119332904734085120

[Stillwater]

It's simple.  Record names of fare evaders.  Two warnings in one year and, upon third offence, the young person is advised that their application for a provisional licence will be delayed for a year.  They can redeem the delay upon payment of a $1000 fee.  Something like this operates in WA, I think.

[verbatim9]

Comments on the issue from the Public Domain on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/59944789668/posts/10157339300704669/

[ozbob]

It's simple.  Record names of fare evaders.  Two warnings in one year and, upon third offence, the young person is advised that their application for a provisional licence will be delayed for a year.  They can redeem the delay upon payment of a $1000 fee.  Something like this operates in WA, I think.

Might be a bit difficult to manage that Mr Stillwater due to the large numbers involved.  Some school runs have up 99% fare evaders.

I think schools buses should be free of ticketing requirements.  As James has suggested some sort of fee arrangement through the school would be better. Drivers have enough to contend with driving the school buses without the complications of fare evasion. I think this might be a factor in why I keep seeing advertisements for school bus drivers - burn out ...

[ozbob]

Comments on the issue from the Public Domain on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/59944789668/posts/10157339300704669/

Lot of support for free travel for children ...   

[verbatim9]

Comments on the issue from the Public Domain on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/59944789668/posts/10157339300704669/

Lot of support for free travel for children ...   

If they are going to go down that path? Hopefully touch on with physical Go Cards or virtualised cards on mobile phones will be compulsory to obtain a free fare. The data is very important to ensure services are organised when needed and to track potential vandalism and anti social behaviour around the network.

[ozbob]

Comments on the issue from the Public Domain on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/59944789668/posts/10157339300704669/