Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

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4 Revenue protection <strong>and</strong> the powers of
ticket inspectors
Fare evasion—the scale of the problem
51. Approximately £400 million – about 8% of revenue – is said to be lost each year from
unpaid rail fares; 55 <strong>and</strong> further significant amounts are lost from unpaid bus fares.
Additional, though smaller, amounts are lost on the Tube, trams <strong>and</strong> other public
transport systems. This comprises ticketless travel <strong>and</strong> travel with a ticket that is invalid for
the journey. This is as a result of a range of inadequate sales facilities, mistakes, <strong>and</strong>
deliberate deception by a minority of passengers.
52. This is a substantial sum lost to the transport system <strong>and</strong> it is worrying that the
transport operators do not have more accurate or consistent information. For example,
First plc has quoted conflicting figures of £40 million <strong>and</strong> £15 million for its rail operations.
Industry specialists are critical of the validity of the survey methods <strong>and</strong> the figures quoted.
There is further confusion about how much is lost due to deliberate fare-dodging <strong>and</strong> how
much due to failure to provide the passenger with the opportunity to buy the correct
ticket. 56
53. Some witnesses take the view that revenue protection is a matter for the operators: they
alone should decide how much action to take as it is in their commercial interests. We do
not share this view. Firstly, lost revenue impacts on the honest fare-paying passenger, not
just the shareholder. There is also plenty of evidence that passengers are annoyed by faredodging
<strong>and</strong> it undermines their faith in the system. Secondly, fare-dodging is often
associated with other anti-social behaviour. Tackling one problem tends to alleviate the
other.
54. Too much revenue is being lost through a failure of the transport operators to provide
the appropriate ticket sales facilities, to sell tickets on-board, <strong>and</strong> to carry out basic checks.
This is not the same as fare evasion. It is simply non-collection of fares. The view of several
informed witnesses is that revenue protection investment represents good value for money
<strong>and</strong> that there is nationwide scope for improvement. 57
55. Revenue protection does not get the attention that it warrants: a bigger <strong>and</strong> more
sophisticated effort is needed. The extent of the problem is poorly understood. It
ranges from passengers willing but unable to pay their fares through to deliberate fare
evasion. Fare-dodging is often associated with other antisocial behaviour <strong>and</strong> efforts to
curb one are likely to impact positively on the other. More regular <strong>and</strong> coordinated
research <strong>and</strong> monitoring of the problem are required. Leaving it to individual
companies who are likely to be averse to sharing or publishing information means that
no one has a clear picture <strong>and</strong> revenue protection measures are likely to be inadequate.
55 Ev 133
56 Ev 94 & 95
57 Ev 161