Because they wont embarrass a habitual, but theyll act like a gameshow buzzer highlighting to everyone else that CASUAL evasion is possible when that person gets away with it!, But you DO need enforcement, its just your dirty secret is that you dont really give a shit whether you catch anyone. The mass transit (light rail) system is run by one agency, and the bus system(s) are run by others. Similarily just put a few machines on each bus that electronically can read transport cards, and let passengers get on and off as they like. since New Yorkers ride off-peak so much less than Parisians. In both cities, there are further discounts for annual tickets. Singapore has no season passes at all. Its one of these things that on some level anyone can end up doing technically I did it once in grad school, when I brought in a tray of leftover cookies after a talk intending to take them back to Columbia, and someone on the train offered me $1 for 3 of them and I said yes. Not being American I dont know my semi-automatic high-powered weapons at all well. Intuitively most of the induced extra trips, in a monthly fee, rather than pay per usage system, will be very short trips, that are easily substituted by walking or biking. (England) Hi, I got a fare evasion summoning me to court, and Id like to know if theres a possible out of court settlement option from tfl as Im not trying to stain my record. 3) The San Francisco stations have public areas before the gates. Inspectors who cant make a citation without using physical violence should not work as inspectors. And on the other hand, by the relatively frictionless Paris and French system. Its a godsend. While it would be much better to have density presented as a map with high granularity, the overall figures suggests that Tokyo is more compact and denser. Call us on 020 7837 3456 for private 24/7 Emergency Legal Advice and a confidential consultation. Aditya Chakrabortty, 19 July 2016. Theres a moralistic discourse in the United States about fare evasion on public transport that makes it about every issue other than public transport or fares. Charging thousands of pounds per year but travellers being forced to stand the entire (hour long) journey? He was just pointing out a common activist position on transit in the United States. A TFL fare evasion solicitor can intervene at this stage by writing a detailed letter of representation on your behalf, arguing that a prosecution would not be in the Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Why would a woman want to take a bus or train when she might have to watch somebody pee? AAR (August 2107), BSB Solicitors are a company you can definitely put your trust in. That makes a big difference because it eliminates the trip-chaining penalty that results in many transit systems. Try cutting the breakeven point to something starting with a 3 instead. Of course you need a good system. The German one is to make it easy to follow the law and then use enforcement to not make it so easy to break it. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. For smaller municipalities, transit should be free. And Ive never seen a normal cop using a rifle. Not that need to, the glocks they carry are plenty deadly. The third problem could be fixed if cities actually worked to provide public restrooms either free or at a nominal cost outside every station. In fact, all of these have had a more permissive stance that has been incrementally put in place in NYC over the past 2-3 years, and anyone who rides the train has seen it. Tear down these faregates. In Switzerland, where consolidated fares have been in existence for more than a century, there are regular passenger counts. 2019-11-14 - 01:24 Henry. In Hong Kong MTR system, with both the gated heavy rail system and open access light rail system, the operator have employed a lot of additional fare inspector at all stations, to the point multiple of them are visible at every ticket gate, trying to curb down any attempts at undermining the systems revenue, following a trend of distrust against the political stance in operation of the MTR system. being applied to NYC-MTA. Is it a shorter trip? Japan has a norm of subsidized commuting costs (mostly employer subsidized, but the amount of government subsidy increases as income increases since it comes as a tax benefit), and while its cool that people can and do commute via Shinkansen from exurbs over 100km from the city center, I dont think that is behavior the government should promote. We will send you a Single Justice Procedure Notice or a Postal Requisition. Notably the Tokyo is denser than Paris is a Phenomenon o the last 30 years according to the Atlas. Making regular use more expensive will do the exact opposite of tempting them. Merde! Thats not my impression but admit I dont have direct experience for several decades now. I have just returned from an overseas trip to the UK and Italy. And I speak as a transit user. If you really think there is something really worth subsidizing in very frequent transit use, then you can make higher-order trips cheaper at various thresholds. The only thing predictable about the service is that its always awful: the train you want is odds-on to be late or cancelled. Andy Byford, New York Citys transit president, has maintained that fares are crucial in improving rider experience. If you want to do an apples to apples comparison go find satellite data and use it. Having a pricing structure of a very high marginal price for trip 0-25, followed by a 0 cost for trip 25-999 is just bad design. The answer inevitably will be yes, and this despite paying high salaries and absurd high bonuses to senior execs etc (which went on even as those companies marched into bankruptcy.) Everything is proof of payment. OUTRAGED. UK.ManchesterLiverpool2578% Affordable transit, along with affordable housing, is just one thing in not only creating an equitable society, but as economists now realise (doh!) Which doesnt make it any more tolerable but makes it understandable and an intractable problem, only ameliorating with the climb out of poverty and marginality. Of course, you can ask for transit to be free, and investments budgets to be endless, but that is not a very constructive approach to solve real-world problems. That is illogical. The new purely-commercial companies will naturally cherrypick only the busiest most lucrative routes. It is $12.40 to go from Fremont to SFO (a 30 mile drive). You may receive a letter called a 'Single Justice Procedure Notice' if you are charged with an offence relating to not having a valid ticket. Efficiency is usually both environmental and fair. This, in turn, is because bus fares are enforced by drivers, who for years have complained that fare disputes lead to assaults on them and proposed off-board fare collection as an alternative. 2) They think its cool It is not like we are arguing about some fantasy scenarios, I am just saying that the West could adopt systems more similar to the East (where it evidently works very well). However, this really isnt about revenue or enforcement approaches or fare levels. However, the large fare reductions to qualifying low-income riders are: a number of cities have used the same definition, namely Medicaid eligibility, and give steep discounts for bikeshare systems. Why not try to minimize the average cost of a trip in the system instead? This is actually a win-win situation, because the operator gets the money early on, and the employer can save parking spaces. If subsidized transit leads to people moving further out and leading more car oriented lives, it could even increase transportation costs, as people saved money on housing by moving to a further out area, but end up needing a car for many non-commute trips. Both are negatively impacted by heavy commute subsidies. Theyll be lucky if they dont get some Hong Kong-inspired rebellion! Fare enforcement should be done with POP alone, by unarmed civilian inspectors, as in Berlin. In New York, the SBS system uses proof of payment (POP), but passengers still have to validate fares at bus stops, even if they already have paid, for example if they have a valid monthly pass. You specifically dont want discounts on tolls, though the point of tolling is to discourage car traffic, e.g. Its funny that the US is all about making things run like the private sector. What you want in terms of Get cars out of the city is a system where riders dont have to do math or stuff to consider whether they should take transit, As soon as you force them to calculate whether its worth it, theyll consider cars. There are at least a couple in SF (24th and 16th and Mission) that do this. In Vancouver, Cubic lobbying and a New Right campaign about fare evasion forced TransLink to install faregates on SkyTrain, and when the faregate project had predictable cost overruns, the campaigners took that as evidence the agency shouldnt get further funding. 95% of users would use an electronic card that you sweep when you enter and when you exit, and only know the price when they exit. On many buses, drivers just let it go and let passengers board without paying, especially if nearly all passengers are connecting from the subway and therefore have already paid, as on the B1 between the Brighton Beach subway station and Kingsborough Community College or on the buses to LaGuardia. Its the nature of the mindset that believes it can avoid spending real money by improving efficiency (at someone elses expense/convenience, often far into the future) to think this way. HL February 2021, I highly recommend BSB solicitors, they are professional and responsive. Exactly. And its part of the largest train franchise in Britain, Govia Thameslink. Passengers need to swipe 46 times in a 30-day period to justify getting a monthly pass rather than a pay-per-ride. Sounds miserlyalmost Britishcompared to Paris. Very clearly, a growing activist community wants to eliminate these standards, favoring total decriminalization not just of fare evasion, but of unlicensed vending, panhandling on trains, public urination, pot smoking, radio playing, etc. This situation requires not only a shift in the thinking concerning the ownership of commuting infrastructure, but also a radical restructuring of its funding model. Indeed if you can get most of your passengers/city reaching two yeses then your casual evasion will be well below a level worth caring about.. No gates to get on. See Santa Con and other events for affluent proud dysfunction. It boasts the worst record on significant lateness. What would you like to know ? And the Overground runs nearly break even, which I think is what the report was complaining about. 2) Is the service worth the relative economic price to me? These systems arent put in for a whim the bump in revenue from gating has been well documented otherwise they would not have pushed so hard on covering more stations. In reality, this would actually be a cost saving measure because any system to collect fares, be that fare gates or proof of payment, is very expensive, so getting your revenue from taxes instead of fares would actually be cheaper for the residents. I dont know if the employer paid for the rest (or whatever the discounted price was). Yeah, the lack of monthly caps on Oyster baffles me. Of course it will. Terribly sorry. Because the casuals (or potential casuals) will be outraged. And of course worse service. They were extremely professional and helpful. Its telling that the NYC MTA police response is on subways and not on LIRR or Metro North, where you can evade a $20 fare. On the same principle, cities and states can discount fares on buses and trains. Look at the fare compliance b.s. This works very well in very busy systems in Asia, where they can deal with large passenger flows. The agencies could then negotiate a split based on that data (or based on anything, really). No, simply untrue assumption, and I could easily make the opposite assumption, eg. Caltrain has an unlimited annual GoPass (http://www.caltrain.com/Fares/tickettypes/GO_Pass.html) they only make available to large employers, who must pay based on total eligible employee headcount and not actual employee usage. What happens if I just ignore the Notice? le de France Mobility wants to improve service quality, achieve greater operator responsiveness, find innovative solutions and improve passenger information. A Monthly Travelcard for zones 1-2 (inner London) is 134.80 (US$169.45, 150.96) Thoroughly recommend! 70% of department 77 Seine-et-Marne) and has huge forests and national parks (eg. Not the worse thing that could happen but not a pleasant ride either. Oh, and by the way, only Singapore citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. He was very honest and though the odds may have been against us, he was able to come up with a good plan of action. Would certainly recommend. So if someone rides a King County Bus, then a Sound Transit train, both Sound Transit and King County get money. And of course the marginal cost to the operator of these discretionary trips is close to zero, especially as they are almost wholly out of peak periods. I wouldnt feel comfortable hiking the monthly fare in New York at all until the pay-per-ride fare hit $3.50, maybe even $4. If occasional riders have to read a massive chart to figure out what theyre supposed to pay they probably just wont pay it at all. It is not like we are arguing about some fantasy scenarios, I am just saying that the West could adopt systems more similar to the East (where it evidently works very well). Debatable, given the total lack of bike infrastructure and the fact that on the bus it was a 40 minute to an hour journey involving a transfer between buses. And the metro did develop from a tram system as was once planned for the heavier Stadtbahns. I wouldnt hold Japan up as a model here, since many (most?) The lack of S-bahn style operation patterns in the non-megacity regions is a failure of government and private-sector since no-ones pushing it. To you and others, it seems to be narrowly econometric efficiency and my experience is that it is anathema to passenger experience or satisfaction, and not least to the ease and functionality of transit in a big city. It caused continuous scale back of services but all see it as a natural result of motorization and expansion of highway into rural area, in addition to aging and reducing population in rural area, although even the Japanese COmmunist Party is support of the union against privatization failed to imagine the scale of effect its causing right now in their PR material at the time. The #1 cause of escalator failure is human waste. Except for the occasional hospitalization or death. Large employers often sign reduced rate Job Ticket deals with public transit operators. Rural mode-share collapse isnt about private vs public its about the mismanagement of regional cities and their relationship to their hinterlands. We have a great deal of experience in this area and have had consistent success in settling these matters out of court, avoiding a criminal record. As someone unfamiliar with any type of legal proceedings they made sure I was updated through every step of the process and, ultimately, helped me to achieve a satisfactory conclusion. I suspect the reason Paris is capping-curious is precisely that the breakeven point there is so high it was 52 relative to buying tickets in bundles of 10 last time I was there. For Ile de France the versement transport VT payroll tax has at times funded 40% of StiFs operational costs (I dont know how that breaks down for different modes) and it sounded like they were proposing something like that for the UK. Because it reduces maintenance costs and eliminates a serious bottleneck to pedestrian throughput, and I dont think systems with faregates have lower fare evasion rates than systems with POP. Tear down these faregates. See In re 3M Bair Hugger Litigation, 924 N.W.2d 16, 24 (Minn. App. You focus on a small permanent presence where habitual evasion is common, and then focus your roaming enforcement on areas with a high CASUAL risk., which is why (in London) youll see periodic HIGHLY VISIBLE ticket check sweeps at big stations, or on services like the DLR or high-risk bus routes where there are a large number of POTENTIAL casual evaders. Good lord! No one is questioning that it could be done by technology. This thread has been locked by the moderators of r/LegalAdviceUK. Any maintenance on these escalators requires wearing haz-mat suits. And if you need proof just try asking Londoners versus Parisians about their own systems. Hope that isnt a dark omen. Turned things around very quickly and were the most efficient solicitors I have ever dealt with. Right, but buses represent a small fraction of total pax, certainly in the centre but presumably more in the outer regions (where they will also be less cost-efficient). Menu viscount royal caravan. Contact emilia@chancellors.com to see how we can assist you. One or two fewer workdays does not change the logic much for a working person residing in a zero-car household. Id say make the one-way $5 now in one big yank, removing the faregates at the same time as a PR move. Also, one of the 5 key points of the Williams review into their rail system: a new commercial model: Williams argues the current franchising model has had its day and is holding the sector back, stifling collaboration, preventing the railway from operating as a cohesive network and encouraging train operators to prioritise narrow commercial interest over passengers. This report puts forward a relatively simple Claim the Commute scheme as a solution to this problem. policy. So there is, or at least was, that kind of enforcement on this issue. Whereas today the program is a net revenue generator if it halves subway fare evasion, a level that already seems strained, within ten years, assuming normal fare escalation, it will need to cut fare evasion by about 90%, which is a complete fantasy. If the goal is to get people to stop driving to work, then making driving more expensive and housing cheaper, and promoting denser inner suburbs, seems like the much better choice, as politically difficult as that is. And therein lies the cause of the problem: the types who can think econometrically wont think in terms of long-range strategic planning (because it is impossible to quantitate neatly, and involves that nebulous thing, vision) so they do the only thing they can, which is tactical short-termism, to optimise current resources blah, blah. BSB Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors London, WC1N 2ES | 020 7837 3456. Thelawyer who dealt with my caseput me at ease straight aware and was professional throughout my consultation. Cities in both Germany and France, for example, are even trialling free public transport, with huge increases in passenger rates recorded.9 what does silent notifications mean; why is there a shortage of paper towels again? Thats your kind of economic efficiency. Of all the oddities thrown up by rail privatisation, this must rank among the oddest: a train company in the business of running fewer trains. Webthe district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to amend the complaint to add a claim for punitive damages. Its technically still a crime in Germany and repeat offenders Especially those who cannot pay do end up in jail. WebFare evasion is a strict liability offence, meaning it does not matter if an individual intended to evade paying a fare or it was an innocent mistake, the mere fact that you failed to produce a valid ticket when requested for your journey, is sufficient for the network provider to take Court Action against you. At some level its just normal commerce. The most common example of fare evasion involves the use of another persons Oyster Card to get the benefit of reduced or free travel. And incidentally I totally reject your repeated assertion that low fares, or flat fares, to the outer zones of big cities, encourages sprawl, because it does the opposite (it will encourage TOD around the stations) and is much more likely to entice them out of their cars. Theres a bunch of other stuff I could go into about fine levels vs fare levels vs chance of being caught, value of ticket sales at airports, balancing the disruption of checks against frequency, the value of uniform vs non-uniform etc. Id agree with all of this. Even as a visitor, depending on timing, I wouldnt hesitate to buy it at full face value since it really is a pass to freedom of the city, and a travel bargain. Having said that, I have dark forebodings about the EU open access directive coming into force on all railways. Why have fare collection at all. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 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Iwould highly recommend BSB Solicitors to anyone in the future. In fact I strongly believe they are counterproductive, and not just by making using the system very irritating and off-putting for the users. And life goes on. It also occurs when 70% of department 77 Seine-et-Marne) and has huge forests and national parks (eg. The JR companies failures with conventional rail outside the megacities are a point of continuity with JNR not a departure. according to BSB Solicitors national survey. Or elect Corbyn.). In Berlin, the breakeven point is 36 trips. I agree with the first letter writer. How did you come up with M16s?? You must read the notice carefully as it may not be necessary for you to come to court in person. Some people got so infuriated that they went and sat in the First Class carriages (!) because it is so easy to do. In such cities monthly passes do barely exist, and cities aim for a fair and efficient pricing system. Philadelphias SEPTA system is an object lesson in how NOT to design a fare system. And also that Caltrain may realize based on the new data whether they should be charging participating employers more or less, etc. No one will jump a fare gate 10 feet in front of uniformed police officer. At the moment that the rail industry is having a long drawn out argument on the best way forward as everyone can see the season ticket is dying but the political cost of getting rid of it is too high, so some form of fudge will be needed. effectively paying myself) was indirectly the state, ie. Is there any country where ethnic minority which is poorer than rest of the population is not disproportionately inprisoned? Im not sure how much they were promoting free transit (I only browsed it) but their predominant conclusion about UK policy on fares and costs was solid. As someone with a lot at stake and was extremely anxious about the outcome of my case, the final result was better than what I was expecting. The kind of thing I imagined every time I travelled between the two mega-cities in the 80s and 90s. Since racial identification is supposed to not occur in official stats. In Europe there are usually other societal goals for public transport than just fiscal efficiency. But if the choice would be between transit to have to look up the fare for, biking, or taking a car, Id just opt for the car. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/19/southern-rail-failure-crush-unions If I am riding home from work and I stop at a bookstore, thats an extra fare, but its also an extra peak trip. Of course fare gates need manning so outside of the busiest stations fare gating is often a peak time only operation. After a number of years of loss-leading the commercial company goes bust or worse (see UK, though admittedly there is little competition on a route basis; they have the worst of all possible worlds) and the debacle and chaos* makes more travellers choose alternatives to rail. For the other 5%, you would just put in the starting and ending destination in a machine, and the machine would tell you the price. Would you say that SNCF fails to provide good service to the regional cities of France? In fact I would argue that this is plain wrong. I agree with the premise of the article that we need to relax enforcement. UK.HelmfordLondon..39313% We're pleased to announce the launch of our new booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk, which helps support the A sizable proportion of riders who do not pay would just stop riding altogether, for one. We are seeing more an more examples of clients being Development London. I am sure you are aware that there is a large perception bias about such things due to bias in reporting by media etc. However, turnstiles are not necessary for this. I wasimmediately madeto feel at ease at our first meeting and they always provided very clear instructions and advice throughout our email communications. And yet, I cant help but notice the parallels with left-wing moralism on this: sexual assault is a form of oppression, theft (even robbery sometimes) is righteous downward redistribution of wealth. Are you aware of the kind of thing they subjected Season Ticket holders to from the Home Counties? fremont hospital deaths; what happened to tropical tidbits; chris herren speaking fee; boracay braids cultural appropriation; tfl fare evasion settle out of court. This is a very good example of how *not* to do things. Fromstartto finish, my claim was dealt veryprofessionally. Whats a little food poisoning now and then? Finally, monthly passes are regressive for people with very low incomes, and uncertain cash flows, as they may simply not be able to make bulk purchases. At 20 km the single fare is $1.78 and the breakeven point is 68, which means the monthly might as well not exist. (I have literally just joined this site so apologies if I do anything wrong!) WebThank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14th March 2022 asking for information about fare evasion. In France and most places* it is highly correlated to poverty and recent immigration status. In the context of most US metros, I think looking at transit fares in isolation is a mistake. Also its fare gates are an awful design to boot. The entire Tokyo metro area has a population density of 2642 people per sq km, whereas Paris has a population density of 1010 people per sq km. I am on record on your blog as not supporting free transit, but I certainly believe in reasonable fares which inevitably means some subsidy, though it is true that it should not be called that, rather a sharing of costs among all those who benefit from transit. Southern is a story of rail failure. monthly passes is that be encouraging heavy rather than occasional (mixed with biking and walking) use of transit, it encourages large geographical sprawl. Most if not all Parisians love the Metro and consider it theirs.