Annually, billions of euros are lost to fare evasion worldwide. It is a corrosive problem for public transport companies, posing a threat to safety and financial sustainability. Authorities in Brisbane, Australia, are deploying extra public transport safety officers to patrol and monitor fare evasion. The new senior officers will patrol on trains, ferries and...
Brisbane deploys extra officers to tackle fare evasion
Full-height fare gates to curb down fare evasion in Rennes, France
The new gates cost €7m and should save Rennes metro €15m over the next 15 years
The city of Rennes, France, will soon be giving away its status as the last city in the country to use an open system for ticketing at the Metro. In a bid to curb down fare evasion, authorities are installing full-height fare gates at all current 16 stations on the city’s STAR network. Fare...
As much as 1m fare evasions per day on Mexico City’s Metro in 2019
Most fare dodgers jump or manipulate the turnstiles, or use fake tickets and cards
As billions of dollars are lost to fare evasion yearly, it remains a major focus for mass transit operators worldwide. In Mexico City, authorities reported a new grim record of 1 million fare evaders per day on the city’s subway (STM) in October 2019. According to STM director Florencia Serranía, on the last day...
4x more fare evasion on Dutch buses during Covid-19
Offenders took advantage of back-door bus boarding and reduced fare inspections to avoid paying
The Covid-19 outbreak imposes a new set of sanitary rules to prevent the spread of the virus infection. For public transport users, this basically resumes to social distancing, and wearing face masks. Public transport companies also took extra preventive measures such as back-door bus boarding, and vehicle and station disinfection. Unfortunately some travellers see...
Ticket inspections resume on Stockholm’s public transport
The controls must now take into account Covid-19 safety measures
After a two-and-a-half-month break during the coronavirus outbreak, Stockholm’s public transport operator SL is resuming ticket controls. As of mid-June, ticket inspectors are running regular controls on the subway. Since June 29, they are also checking tickets on buses and trams. For controls on buses, inspectors are checking tickets when travellers disembark. The inspectors...
The role of AI Video Analytics for reducing fare evasion in public transport
Transport managers can draw more value from their video surveillance networks by employing intelligent Video Analytics using AI

Making better use of existing video networks Overcoming the challenge of manually analysing video feeds from security cameras is one of the biggest tasks for companies that use video surveillance on their premises. Security agents have to spend many hours checking multiple computer screens, and oftentimes there are not sufficient agents to review all...
Fare evasion impact in Washington D.C.
Recent system upgrades aim to provide more accurate ridership data to measure and prevent rising fare evasion rates
Fare evasion is a global issue causing losses of billions of euros. Washington D.C. ranks third in the US for the financial impact caused by fare evasion, after Massachusetts’ Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In 2019, fare evasion losses on buses amounted to €24.4m ($29m), and €9.2m ($11m)...
Fare inspections to resume on Toronto’s public transport
After a two-month pause during the pandemic, fare inspectors will gradually resume their normal duties this summer
TTC – short for Toronto Transit Authority, announced that fare inspectors will gradually resume activity on its premises and vehicles. During June, they will board vehicles once again to ‘remind customers to pay their fare’. They will be placed at key surface transfer points to ‘observe and educate customers and to make sure they...
Increased fare evasion rates during the pandemic
Data from an ongoing study reveals that fare infractions might rise even more post-lockdown unless preventive measures are taken in time
The past months have been a challenging time for public transport due to Covid-19. Many transit workers lost their lives, ridership plummeted to record levels, and revenues from fare collection dropped massively. Fare evasion might be one a small problem for transit at the moment, but is it one to be completely ignored? Our...
Safety in public transport: social distancing vs face masks
Social distancing is much harder to implement post-lockdown than asking passengers to wear face masks yet it is regarded by the majority of authorities as a key measure in stopping Covid19
Authorities and public transit organisations have yet to agree on the best way forward to revive public transport while ensuring safety from Covid-19. So far it looks like most decision makers consent on the measure of wearing face masks. These are now obligatory in public transport in countries like Germany, China, and Spain. However,...