Re: Tram fare dodgers costing $8m a year

["D. Lindstrom" <D_Lindstrom@Bigpond.com>]

Hi,
Here's the text of the article:
Tram fare dodgers costing $8m a year

                        By EWIN HANNAN

                        Fare evasion on trams has cost the State Government at
least
                        $8million annually since the introduction of automated
ticketing,
                        the auditor-general has found.

                        In a report into the troubled ticketing system, the
                        auditor-general, Mr Ches Baragwanath, said 15 per cent
of
                        commuters whose last journey was on a tram said they had
not
                        purchased a ticket. He said this finding equated to an
annual
                        revenue loss of at least $8 million, without taking into
account
                        other forms of fare evasion.

                        The Public Transport Corporation has stated that one of
the
                        aims of the new system was to curb fare evasion.

                        ``The new system has created a major risk for the PTC in
that
                        there is potential for significant lost revenue from
fare evasion,
                        particularly in respect to tram travel,'' Mr Baragwanath
said.

                        The auditor-general also found that more than half of
                        Melbourne's public transport commuters believe the new
                        ticketing system has reduced the quality of service.

                        Mr Baragwanath said the final commissioning of the
automated
                        system was 32 months behind the original contractual
target of
                        February 1996.

                        Commuter surveys conducted by Mr Baragwanath's office in

                        May and August this year found 52per cent and 48per cent
of
                        commuters respectively considered the introduction of
the
                        system had decreased the quality of service.

                        In August, 46 per cent of commuters said ticket vending
                        machines were either always, frequently or sometimes
broken
                        down. Forty-six per cent of commuters said they had
problems
                        keeping their balance when buying a ticket on a moving
tram.

                        The survey found that 18 per cent of commuters were less
likely
                        to use public transport since the new ticketing system
was
                        introduced.

                        Mr Baragwanath said he had identified weaknesses in the
new
                        system that were similar to the controversial Met Ticket
system
                        that operated under the previous Labor Government.

                        He said changes to contracts between the PTC and the
system
                        operator, OneLink, have exposed taxpayers to a maximum
$35
                        million in claims, a cap he described as ``excessive''.

                        Mr Baragwanath criticised a decision by the PTC to take
a
                        17-day overseas trip to evaluate rival ticketing
systems, a week
                        after the contract was signed with OneLink.

                        The Minister for Transport, Mr Robin Cooper, yesterday
                        rejected Mr Baragwanath's finding that the overseas trip
was of
                        no value to the evaluation process, describing it as
``good
                        business''.

                        Mr Cooper said that while he was unable to identify the
level of
                        fare evasion, the Government was committed to getting
``rid of
                        cheats'', including deploying more ticket inspectors.

                        He said the Government could not say when final
commissioning
                        of the system would be approved, but indicated he
believed ``it
                        is close''.

                        The Opposition transport spokesman, Mr Peter Batchelor,
said
                        yesterday the report was a ``savage condemnation'' of
the State
                        Government's incompetence in introducing the new
ticketing
                        system.
Regards,
David Lindstrom

David wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Came up as an invalid link. Makes you wonder how they can put an exact
> amount on it. I wonder if they have taken into account and taken in account
> the cost to the enviroment and road system of these evaders running their
> own cars? The health costs associated with them having to walk everywhere if
> they didn't catch public transport? The cost of doing this study? Make
> public transport FREE I say and put more tax on petrol to pay for it.
>
> David.
>
> D. Lindstrom <D_Lindstrom@Bigpond.com> wrote in message
> 364A23F4.A4720B2D@Bigpond.com">news:364A23F4.A4720B2D@Bigpond.com...
> >See the article in today's Age at:
> >http://www.theage.com.au/daily/981112/news/news9.html