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ARTA says its crackdown on fare evasion is working.
ARTA and Veolia launched ‘it’s fair to pay your fare’ customer driven initiative at Britomart and Newmarket train stations a few months ago to check customers had a valid, pre-purchased ticket prior to boarding.
May was the first time on Auckland’s rail network, that more tickets were sold off board than on board trains.
And train managers seem to be catching more people.
The other day, I witnessed a mother with a young child being evicted at the next station after the guard accused her of sneaking on at the last stop. She loudly insisted she had already paid further back the line.
When evicted, the mother swore at the train manager who handled the incident very calmly and professionally. You have to feel sorry for the child being brought up in such a dishonest environment.
It is estimated around $1.5 million is lost through non paying train fare customers in the Auckland region per annum.
ARTA says this loss has been considerably reduced through the ticket checks initiative and more checks will take place on the network in the coming months. It calls the operation “very successful.”
Marketing will continue to encourage customers to pre purchase their tickets as much as possible, leading up to the introduction of integrated ticketing next year which will further greatly improve the situation.
For the year, rail fare revenue is $0.6m more than budget due to higher patronage than originally planned. Likewise, bus fare revenue ($0.7m more than budget) especially because of more people using on Northern Express services and ferry revenue is $0.6m more than budget because of a combination of higher patronage and an increase in commercial rent.
13 Comments
They really need to fix up the ticketing so that you pay before you board, like in almost every other city.
Just come from the CBT meeting where a couple of guys working on the integrated ticketing project were talking. They said once we have the new tickets people will tag on and off at stations and there will be automated gates at Newmarket and Britomart. To pick up fare evasion between stations there will be people with hand held units that can walk the trains and randomly swipe the card, this will pick up if it has been tagged on or not.
its pretty big risk to take with kids travelling end up stuck halfway up the line. is it really worth the risk to save a few bucks. though i suppose with the opportunity people can’t resist giving it a try.
@Matt: Did they say any timeframes for it to be rolled out?
I’ve noticed NZ Bus adding the physical structures for the (hopefully integrated ticketing compatible) Snapper readers so I’m picking it’ll be rolled out by the end of the year or during next year. Given that in Auckland NZ Bus doesn’t have the luxury of rolling it out with one group first (e.g. Go Wellington then Valley Flyer) they will have to do a big bang rollout with GO WEST, Metrolink, LINK, North Star and Waka Pacific all switching to Snapper at the same time!
GO WEST, Metrolink, LINK, North Star and Waka Pacific are all the same company so if only they get Snapper, while that’s a smartcard ticket, it is not at all an integrated ticket.
An integrated ticket is operator-agnostic, meaning the ticket is valid for the service you wish to use regardless of its operator.
James - We will not be using it till August next year and even then it will be a limited trial so not all operators will be on board. Thales are supplying the readers for Trains and Ferries but each bus company can decide what readers they have as long as they are compatible with the system.
They didn’t say anyting about what the fare policy will be as that is ARTA’s decision.
When I lived in Wellington, it cost more to buy your ticket on the train than off it. That might be worth considering.
“The other day, I witnessed a mother with a young child being evicted at the next station after the guard accused her of sneaking on at the last stop. She loudly insisted she had already paid further back the line.
When evicted, the mother swore at the train manager who handled the incident very calmly and professionally. You have to feel sorry for the child being brought up in such a dishonest environment.”
Just out of interest who was right? Had she paid or was the TM wrong?
Matt, the real big thing is if/when they will bring in an integrated fare structure.
It’s one thing to have a stored value card that is accepted by all operators, but thats not much better than using cash if all you can do is use it to buy one of each operators myriad fare products.
What I’m waiting for is details on weekly passes, time based tickets, free transfers etc (why can’t we have them now in paper form??)… so far it sounds like they are just developing a new generation cash card.
I just looked up (I was reading) when she started shouting and was being ordered off.
I would be surprised if the TM was in the wrong especially by her behaviour.
@ Chris R I just looked up (I was reading) when she started shouting and was being ordered off.
I would be surprised if the TM was in the wrong especially by her behaviour.
The TM was probably in the right either way. Quoting from Veolia’s conditions of carriage:
“The holder of a rail ticket may be required to pay the ordinary full fare payable for a journey or for entry to a designated area if the holder cannot produce that rail ticket on request.”
I would like to think the integrated ticketing works like Oyster, cheap weakly/monthly/yearly tickets and reduced single trip tickets against paying for the trip in cash which is expensive
eg bus Oyster: £1.10
Cash: £2.00