Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced today that fare evasion had reduced across the entire transport network by more than half, from 11 per cent in 2012 to 5.2 per cent in May 2015.
Major improvements on buses headline the latest results, with fare evasion dropping ten percentage points from 15.3 per cent in 2012 to just five per cent in May 2015.
Other key highlights from the May 2015 survey show:
- Nine of 11 Sydney Trains lines saw a decrease in fare evasion between November 2012 and May 2015, including huge improvements on the Eastern Suburbs (11 per cent to 3.2 per cent) and Western (8.9 per cent to 4.8 per cent) lines
- Fare evasion has dropped on the NSW Trains network between November 2014 (10.5 per cent) and May 2015 (8.3 per cent)
- Fare evasion on Light Rail, first surveyed in November 2014, has fallen from 6.5 per cent to 4.3 per cent in the six months to May 2015.
Mr Constance said the results are pleasing but warned those who continue to do the wrong thing by paying customers will remain the target of enforcement.
“There are more than 190 Transport Officers working across the network alongside the 610 officers of the Police Transport Command, so people trying to get a free ride should know it could end abruptly,” Mr Constance said.
“Any revenue lost means less money going towards public transport improvements like more services and better infrastructure.”
Three types of fare evasion are measured in the survey - not having a ticket, travelling on a concession ticket without a valid entitlement and overriding, where customers travel further than their ticket allows.
Transport Officers have played a huge part in the success issuing more than 250,000 fines and cautions since they started work in May 2013, working alongside the Police Transport Command.
The May Fare Compliance Survey results are available at www.bts.nsw.gov.au 
| Fare evasion | Nov 2012 | May 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Rail | 8.3% | 5.4% |
| Bus | 15.3% | 5.0% |
| Ferry | 4.9% | 2.6% |
The 2012 Fare Evasion survey excluded Light Rail as it was not under contract with Transport for NSW at the time.
Light Rail was surveyed for the first time in November 2014, with Fare evasion estimated at 6.5 per cent. In May 2015, Fare evasion on Light Rail was estimated at 4.3 per cent.