A crackdown on public transport fare dodgers has seen fare evasion fall across the rail and ferry network, saving taxpayers $24 million last year.
The latest survey by the Bureau of Transport Statistics reveals fare evasion across the rail network has fallen by 2.1 percentage points since 2012 and fare evasion on ferries has decreased by 2 percentage points thanks to the NSW Government’s strategy.
The results come as the first of 65 new Transport Officers begin work across the public transport network, checking tickets and helping customers on trains, buses, ferries and light rail.
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said the survey, taken in November 2014, showed the improved results saved NSW taxpayers $24 million last year in lost ticket revenue, compared to 2012.
“We aren’t going to cop people trying to get a free ride, when the majority of customers are doing the right thing”, Mr Constance said.
“The more we recoup from the fares, the more services we can provide for everyone.
150 Transport Officers already work across the network with another 65 currently joining the ranks, bringing the total to 215 by the end of October. Since their inception Transport Officers have issued more than 190,000 fines and cautions.
Some results from the 2014 Fare Evasion Survey compared to 2012 show:
- Fare evasion across the whole rail network fell from 8.3 per cent to 6.2 per cent
- 10 of the 11 Sydney Train lines saw a decrease in fare evasion
- Fare evasion on ferries fell from 4.9 per cent to 2.9 per cent
- Light rail fare evasion is 6.5 per cent. (Light rail was not surveyed in 2012.)
Buses were not included in the most recent survey as the Opal card rollout was underway during the survey period.
The sale of concession tickets from ticket machines at some stations has been limited, ensuring customers need to show proof of their entitlement. As a result, concession misuse has almost halved on rail, and is down by more than two-thirds on ferries.
While overall results were a strong improvement there are still some areas of concern.
“While fare evasion fell on the Western Line there are still too many customers not doing the right thing. It was also disappointing to see fare evasion increasing across most NSW TrainLink services,” Mr Constance said.
“We’ll be making these priority areas for our Transport Officers to tackle over the coming months to make sure people who travel without a valid ticket are caught.”
The Fare Compliance Survey results are available at www.bts.nsw.gov.au
Fares fair - 65 new transport officers start as fare evasion drops.(pdf 166KB)