I was catching a tram towards South Melbourne. I have to change trams to do that and while there are plans to to connect trams passing us to South Melbourne, somewhere might be very cold before that happens.
About ten ticket checkers were at our stop where they were checking tickets as people left trams rather than getting on trams. I was there for about four minutes and I reckon I saw nine people nabbed for not having paid a fare.
I changed trams from the 58 to the 1 to get to South Melbourne Beach and on my return, as far as I could observe, I was the only person who validated their card. There are people who don't validate cards because if they have already paid the daily fare, that is taken two trips in more than two hours, it is pointless and they are not fare evading. Maybe the Myki Pass alternative means it is pointless to validate as you have paid in advance. But still, I think many people were fare evading, from young to old, to public housing types to private home owner types to tourist looking people.
Some weeks ago, Indian born neighbours boarded the same tram as us and they did not validate their Myki cards. Disappointing if they were fare cheating.
A queer thing happened when I caught the 58 tram from our place. I saw a neighbour, European born with a Chinese wife, with them both being friendly and nice long term neighbours on our own floor, leave the tram I boarded at the stop after our stop where he should have left the tram at Anzac Station.. He would have to walk back one stop to get home. He is not the type to be engrossed in his phone and miss his stop. Yes, I was guilty of that once.
I don't believe they have a car and they use public transport all the time, so they are quite familiar with how our public transport works. What I suspect is he hadn't paid his fare, saw the ticket checkers and correctly guessed they would not get on the tram and so not to be caught, travelled to the next stop.
It is all so disappointing. They think they may be cheating a private company, or the government, but they are cheating we taxpayers, their fellow citizens. We pay more tax to cover their fare cheating or there is less money the government has to spend on services.
I cast my mind back several years when we caught a tram to the city with Hippie Niece and her then partner. They were caught on the tram for not paying their fare. Our cards were not checked. I suspect one of the ticket checkers might have recognised me after the cheaters were caught.
I was both angry and subsequently embarrassed that she didn't pay her fare. That wasn't how she brought up. I'm very glad she was caught and would have had to pay a fine of over $200. She is now very good about remembering her Myki card and has set up via her phone automatic Myki top up for her and her two daughters.
Another older upstairs neighbour didn't pay her fare on trams. She now has serious dementia but she didn't ten years ago when she fare evaded.
I plan to say something quite subtle to our neighbour when I next see him, but he will understand. I just hope R is not with me.
It is a bit of x over y divided by kind of question. If you are watchful and understand how ticket checkers work, you will be miles in front by not paying your fare, as against the occasional fine you may receive if you are careless with observing.
Paying your fare rather depends on your character, and I am not liking what I am seeing about people's characters.
.jpg)
This type of thing is disheartening. My husband and I are honest to a fault; I once returned to a store after realizing a very inexpensive item hadn't been tallied. The clerk acted annoyed. I don't understand people a lot of the time. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteDarla, I've had the same experience, which comes from causing staff bother. They would rather not know.
DeleteI hear you. Most people do validate their cards here, but when the ticket checkers are out (and they do board our buses) people are invariably picked up.
ReplyDeleteEC, buses are a bit different but Sydney bus drivers no longer challenge people who don't pay. Out ticket checkers also board trams.
DeleteI feel as you do and am always careful to make sure I don't break the rules.
ReplyDeleteIn Italy last year we made sure we bought the correct train tickets on the platform and validated before boarding. A woman seated across the aisle from us pretended to be asleep when the train conductor passed through the carriage checking tickets. She got away with it, which made me feel a little annoyed.
JayCee, I am a bit surprised by what you say about Italy. I would have thought ticket checkers would be quite serious about fare paying.
DeleteHubby and I catch a bus to Sandringham from Cheltenham (not drinking and driving at lunch). Last time we went I swear he and I were the only people who swiped. Horrified!! Marie, Cheltenham
ReplyDeleteMarie, and you can't classify it to class, wealth, race, young or old. Everyone is doing it.
DeleteToo many dishonest free loaders.
ReplyDeleteSimply put Strayer.
DeleteI am completely with you on this. Most people would not miss the price of the fare. Not paying is reprehensible.
ReplyDeleteTasker, we saw some obvious fare dodging in London, young lads jumping barriers but otherwise and elsewhere, people seemed to pay. TfL fines for fare dodging are huge.
DeletePeople are just selfish worrying about themselves only.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, I'd like to be able to disagree with you, but I cannot.
DeleteStalker
ReplyDeleteAndrew
The 2 Ms Goodie shoes top up their mykies before we come to Melbourne , which we are doing next month.
You will be pleased to know we check on every time we get on the tram. Of course the train is straightforward because you can’t go through the barriers without checking.
On a similar note we buy cinema tickets on line and no one has ever checked to see if we have paid for them. Seats are allocated when you book Wonder if people walk in for free and just wait to see where there is a spare . Palace theatres don’t seem to care
Stalker, you can jump the train barriers you know.
DeleteYes about cinema tickets. Our usual theatres are Palace and it seems to depend on the honesty of a certain demographic, except the same honest film goers don't seem to be so honest on public transport.
There’s always someone who thinks rules are made to be broken.
ReplyDeleteHaving that ‘free rides in the city’ on the trams has me wondering some times if we’re going further do I tap on when we get on or when we actually leave that zone. Doesn’t alter the fact people aren’t confused they’re just dishonest
In Adelaide you tap on when you leave the city free zone, though some tap on as they board and some don't tap on at all.
DeleteCathy, if you are going out of the free tram zone, just tap on as you board. It makes no difference and if you have come to town by train and returning home by train, you will have reached the maximum daily fare anyway. You've reached a point where there is no need to touch on, as you have paid the full fare already. This is one reason why when ticket checkers board trains and trams, the person you see who never touched on has already paid the maximum fare.
DeleteRiver, if it is like here, if you touch on in the free city zone, you will pay, even if you only travel in the free city zone. As I understand, if you intend leaving the free zone, you just touch on as you board the bus.
DeleteI find people disappointing lately, myself.
ReplyDeleteDebby, it is disappointing to be disappointed by people. That is pretty well what my post is about.
DeleteBring back the connies.
ReplyDeleteMerlot, some were very lazy and didn't care about collecting fares. The loss of tram conductors is remorseful for many, but they weren't all so terrific. As time goes on, they will wrongly remembered as a gold standard.
DeleteThere are always people who try to cheat and aren't they often the ones who have plenty of money.
ReplyDeleteQuite true Chris, and that offends me more than kids and poorer type people avoiding paying.
DeleteI'm a bit confused about why people are getting away with not paying. Do the trams use some kind of honors system?
ReplyDeleteKIrk, in a way it is an honour system, but there are ticket checkers who nab people who leave trams and haven't paid, as well as on board vehicle checking, including trains.
DeleteHas fare cheating largely emerged only since the conductors were all sacked, presumably to save money?
ReplyDeleteHels, fare evasion exploded when the conductor replacement scratch tickets were the thing. After they were scrapped and we had Metro cars, fare evasion reduced and stabilised as Myki was introduced. While we aren't really post Covid, it is a convenient way to express something. Fare evasion seems to have exploded post Covid.
DeleteI always paid as do my kids, except the one who drives and possibly the black sheep does a bit of evading though mostly he has a mate drive him places. Do you not qualify for a seniors card which should give you free travel? Find your city's Seniors organisation and find out, for R too.
ReplyDeleteRiver, young people fare evading is to be expected, but then your son would not be so young. Because I worked in pubic transport for over forty years, I have free public transport for myself and my partner. We don't have to but we do still touch on when using public transport. Our cards have our photos on them, so I just show checkers that side of the card and they don't bother scanning them. R is a pensioner and I am a senior, and we do use these benefits to our advantage. I will become a pensioner in October.
DeleteThose people who do not pay etc are just pure plain thieves.
ReplyDeleteIt is how I see it Margaret.
DeleteAvoiding paying is simply dishonest.
ReplyDeleteYep JB. I don't think fare cheaters ever think through who they are cheating.
DeleteThis kind of thing irritates me because I think if I can do the right thing, why can't they?
ReplyDeleteI don't usually use public transport so I don't get the chance to observe fare dodgers but people who park in no parking areas, people who jump queues, people who are rude.....
Kylie, bad parkers are especially noticed by me. There is an FB group called Malaka Parking featuring lots of photos of bad parking. I believe malaka is a Greek word for 'bad', but do your own research.
DeleteI'm pretty familiar with the word, Andrew ;)
DeleteMetro Rail (the subway in DC) is installing new taller fare gates to try to cut down on fare evasion. Public transit is a bargain, when compared to the cost of driving.
ReplyDeleteTP, taller gates seems like a pretty obvious solution to having people jump over them.
DeleteI haven't been on public transport since the pandemic began. I walk everywhere or drive if I must. I have a card but I have never used it although I have used the ones in England. I think there is a real issue here with far evasion too. I would hate to think of people that I know doing it but you never know.
ReplyDeletePat, we still have our Presto cards. It is not looking like they will be used by us again. I remember catching one of you old short trams without a card reader and I really felt like I needed to apologise to the driver for bothering him with wanting to pay our tram fare. Fare evasion can never be eliminated but it can be very much minimised.
DeleteI occasionally see people jump the gates at tube stations here and it's quite frustrating. They're hurting the very transit system they depend on. We occasionally see ticket-checkers walking up and down tube trains, scanning cards to make sure people have paid their entry fare, but they are few and far between.
ReplyDeleteSteve, one of your regional train operators began enforcing valid tickets very hard over an extended period with a very profitable success.
DeleteThe same thing happens here. I watch people and the majority don't bother to tap. We are supposed to tap even if we are within the 2 hour period/or transferring. It just displays 0 cost.
ReplyDeleteRecently I saw a young couple and he had found a way to get the gate open so she could walk through.
I would be too scared to get caught.
Jackie, we had a fear of authority. Young people don't seem to.
Delete