🚀 go-pugleaf

chanp@direct.ca (Patrick Chan) wrote:

>The difference is that during my 4 month stay in Ottawa, I had to show
>my pass to at least 3 inspectors a week!   Meanwhile, during the 4
>months I took BC Transit, I had to show my pass to only 1.. and that
>was a driver.   However, on OC Transpo buses, pass holders board
>through any doorway (often bypassing the driver "inspector"), while BC
>Transit's drivers check each rider as they board.   So... which one is
>more efficient at catching fare fraud?  Which one puts more money into
>the transit system?   I don't have any data regarding this, so I won't
>even try to guess. 

I would think that the driver checking each passenger would be more
efficient at detecting who's attempting to cheat.  It is generally
accepted that a challenge from the operator regarding the fare is
enough inducement to get a person to pay the correct fare.

Fare fraud in BC Transit is a 3 to 5 million dollars a year
problem...officially.  I personally believe it to be considerably
higher.  The problem here (again, like schedules) is to strike a
balance.  Do you hold up 50 honest fare-paying people trying to get
home in order to deal with the single individual going 10 blocks who
refuses to pay?  The system will only be out $1.50 (slightly more if
it's rush hour or suburban service).

The other problems extend to the court system.  The present number of
outstanding tickets for fare fraud tied up in the courts is very high.
The courts have their priorities too (speeders, robbers, etc).
>
>>Driving in the bus lane is a municipal area of policing (VPD, RCMP,
>>etc).  Jurisdictional problems have arisen in these areas.
>Fair enough.   OC Transpo has numerous inspectors driving up and down
>the Transitway looking for offenders.  It's their property (I think),
>so they have jurisdiction.  It seems that OC Transpo is given quite a
>bit of leeway in enforcement considerations...  

This is true.  OC Transpo is responsible for the Transitway because
they are the only ones that use it and it is completely separate from
the rest of the road (sort of like Skytrain).  Our bus lanes form part
of the road system (a white line is not considered hard enough
separation) and, as a result, fall under local police jurisdiction.