Fare evasion in Athens’ buses falls by 14%
The mandatory front-door boarding and ticket validating measure introduced in July shows initial promising results

Fare evasion in Athens' buses falls by 14%

Since July, people can only board Athens’ buses form the front door and are obliged to validate their ticket. After only one week of implementation, this measure already achieved a 100% ticket validation increase. Two months later, good news keep on coming: fare evasion in Athens’ buses has fallen by 14%.

The reduction of fare dodging, however, is not the only achievement. The new regulation in buses, together with the activation of fare gates in the metro system, has also had an economic impact. Revenues have risen by 12%.

 

More inspectors at Athens’ buses

In order to maintain and improve results, transport authorities will hire 160 staff members. The aim is to have a new body of inspectors to tackle fare evasion in Athens’ buses. Officers will be able to ask for proof of payment and impose fines when needed.

This new team will fill in a significant gap. Up until now, there were no inspectors on Athens’ buses. The lack of controllers took place when, in the summer of 2013, authorities abandoned a system of voluntary inspections by drivers.

 

Electronic cards

Athens Transport ticket system has transitioned from paper to electronic tickets. Since this summer, the network runs with Ath.ena cards, which consist in paper and plastic smartcards. These can be anonymous or personalized -which have more benefits-.

The transport agency has issued more than 1.18 million Ath.ena cards. 385,000 were anonymous and 800,000 personalized.