Ticket Validation Archives

August 31, 2020 Fare Evasion, Public Transport

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...

May 30, 2019 Public Transport

Milan upgrades subway service gates to tackle fare evasion
Fare evasion fines have increased 33% in the past year

In its efforts to reduce subway fare evasion, Milan Transit Authority (ATM) recently announced it will deploy a new improved access gate system. This will become operational at Porta Genova, Cadorna, and Duomo subway stations starting in summer 2019. Compared to the old waist-height turnstiles, the new gates are 1.8m high and have a...

January 8, 2019 Fare Evasion

Technology upgrade to solve Opal card loophole at Sydney Airport
As of January 7th, 2019 passengers traveling to the airport station must top up their cards to a minimum $35 before boarding the trains

New technology to erase Opal loophole at Sydney Airport

Australia’s Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has announced that all passengers travelling to and from Sydney’s Airport station are required to top up their Opal cards to a minimum $35 as of January 7, 2019. This solution is to prevent revenue losses caused by a loophole which allowed passengers to travel with negative...

November 27, 2018 Public Transport

Brussels Metro installs double validation system to reduce fare evasion
From now on passengers will have to validate tickets both when entering and when exiting stations

Travellers on Brussels Metro must now validate their tickets both at entry and at exit points at stations, similar to the city’s Premetro system. Starting this month, Brussels’ public transport operator STIB-MIVB installed new gates at one station, with 15 more stations planned to be ready by the end of 2018. The Metro a...

November 6, 2018 Ticketing

Wristbands, a new way to pay for public transport
Vancouver’s transport agency TransLink trials alternatives to Compass Cards

TransLink tests wristbands as an alternative to Compass cards

TransLink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUQ7a-u0YJ8

Vancouver’s transport agency TransLink keeps innovating in ticketing options. After deploying the Compass Card fare system two years ago and introducing a Tap-to-Pay system earlier this year, TransLink is testing wristbands an alternative form of paying. “We are always looking for new ways to improve customer experience” they state. Wristbands would work as the...

October 23, 2018 Ticketing

PRESTO fare card system shows “continued performance below targets”
The electronic payment system in Ontario (Canada) is costing millions and does not achieve the expected reliability rates to fully eliminate tickets, passes, tokens and cash

The electronic payment system PRESTO, which works across local transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and Ottawa, has a long way to go. According to an internal Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) briefing obtained by Toronto Star newspaper, PRESTO shows “continued performance below targets”. Problems with operating transactions and card readers keep...

October 16, 2018 Public Transport

Fare evasion crackdown in Rome
Rome's public transport operator ATAC issued a record 16,000 fines in one month

bus_rome_atac_anastasia-dulgier-lJoGuFDuOm8-unsplash

Rome’s public transport agency ATAC is running a new round of ticket checks aimed to reduce fare evasion rates on its fleet of vehicles. Since the start of the year controllers have verified around 2 million passengers, 8,5% more than last year. In a new coordinated effort in September 2018, the agency issued a record...

October 8, 2018 Public Transport

MBTA postpones fare gates deployment in commuter rail platforms
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will wait until 2021 to make it coincide with the installation of the all-electronic payment

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is postponing its plan to install new fare gates in commuter rail platforms. The reason is the all-electronic payment system scheduled for 2021. The transport agency believes it makes more sense to wait and deploy both systems at the same time. Fare gates were scheduled for early this...

October 1, 2018 Fare Evasion

Negative balances on Opal cards amount to $2.9 million loss
Card system upgrades and a crackdown on fare evaders have provided a partial solution for the issue

Beau Giles https://bit.ly/2ya538m

An Opal card loophole at Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), Australia allowed travellers to obtain new cards at no cost whilst ditching used unregistered cards that had outstanding negative balances. In the financial year of 2018-2019, this amounted to about $2.9 million in losses, $1 million less than the previous financial year. $2.9...

September 17, 2018 Fare Evasion

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

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...