Re: Yarra Trams Article in Sunday Age

[p.edwards@its.unimelb.edu.au (Paul Edwards)]

In article <957p3b$qkp$1@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>, amorton@mudguard.ee.mu.oz.au
(Anthony Morton) wrote:

> I submit that it's because people are pissed off at having an inconvenient
> new ticketing system forced on them that there's a general community hostility
> toward ticket inspectors.

I'd suggest that the hostility towards ticket inspectors stems from their
attitude as well. Apart from the prevailing attitude which seems to be that
everyone on board is guilty unless proven innocent, perhaps the RPO role
could be expanded to include public safety on trams. This too will help
protect revenue.

An example: last year (actually, the year before) I was on a tram where
there was the usual trio of RPOs on board. One passenger started hassling
another in a very threatening manner (based on assumptions by the former
about the latter's sexuality from what I could gather), and these RPOs did
nothing to stop it. It was only the intervention of another passenger and
myself which stopped the situation.

Whenever I see Melbourne ticket inspectors in action, that niggling thought
that Charles Darwin was wrong tends to surface.

Cheers,
Paul