Re: Yarra Trams Article in Sunday Age

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

That does need to be fixed.

Also, some consistency is needed with the ticket inspectors. One of the
things that causes them to be so deeply resented is their poor
understanding of their powers and the system (eg YT inspectors not
knowing that Australian Open staff can travel free, or not knowing
where sections begin and end). They also have a habit of picking on
youngish looking people (particularly kids in school uniforms) and,
interestingly, people from the indian subcontinent (we've had more than
one complaint of ticket inspectors asking someone if theyre indian
before fining them!).

Just a couple of weeks ago the inspectors got on. A girl from the
Academy who looked about 14 produced an expired monthly ticket and said
her local shop had run out of them, and said she wanted a monthly and
didn't want to buy a 2-hour. She was fined.

A tourist who had an unvalidated daily had it confiscated and his
details demanded. He gave them an address in the UK and suggested they
weren't likely to get any payment.

Then they approach this 30-odd yr old guy in a suit who taps his pocket
and says he doesn't have one today, but usually has one. The inspector
says "Well, make sure you have one next time". Of course some
discretion is appropriate but not if its exercised on what sort of mood
the inspector is in that day. I've also seen people simply refuse to
produce or buy a ticket (they say they can't afford one or that they
don't believe in paying for PT) and the inspectors just tell them if
theyre not careful they'll get fined and move on to the next person (an
old age pensioner who doesn't have coins for the machine) and book them.

The system of warnings needs to be formalised. There is supposed to be
an informal system of people not being booked the first time their
details are taken (copious exceptions are, however, made - adding to
the inconsistency of the system). I think the first time they should
get a formal written warning rather like City Link.

Of course, returning conductors and station staff would make it very
hard to evade anyway.

Vaughan

> Well that's another thing that annoys me. It is childishly easy to
evade
> fares on both trams and trains. For instance, I have seen:
>
> - (train & tram) get off when the inspectors get on
>
> - (train) city station barriers are open and often unstaffed at
underground
> stations outside peak hours
>
> - (train) suburban stations with barriers always have one left open,
and are
> almost never staffed
>
> - (train) jump over an unstaffed barrier
>
> - (train) hold an unvalidated ticket. Claim you forgot to validate
it. If
> you're dressed neatly and smile a lot, you'll probably get away with
it.
>
> - (tram) hold an unvalidated ticket. Validate when the inspectors get
on
>
> From my observations, inspectors are rare enough on the system that
the
> chances of getting caught are not high. And many people use the above
> techniques when inspectors are around. Ticket inspectors don't need to
> behave like Nazis, but they do need to be wise to these sorts of
tricks.
>
> Daniel
> --
> Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
> dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au
> Melbourne public transport FAQ http://www.custard.net.au/melbtrans/
>
>


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