PTV loses $40m from fare evasion on Metro, V/Line and buses

VICTORIA’S public transport operators lost $40 million to fare evaders last year — a rise of more than $1 million — with thousands getting a free ride.

VICTORIA’S public transport operators lost $40 million to fare evaders last year — a rise of more than $1 million.

Thousands of fare evaders got a free ride in the past financial year, with Public Transport Victoria (PTV) estimating 5 per cent of city passengers and 7 per cent of V/Line users travelled without a valid ticket.

Fare evasion was at its worst on the metropolitan bus network with about 9 per cent not paying up.

FARE EVADERS FALL INTO THREE CATEGORIES

PHONES, CREDIT CARDS TO REPLACE MYKI CARDS

MYKI SUFFERS ANOTHER COST BLOWOUT

Metropolitan trains had the highest compliance rate at 97 per cent, with trams up to 96.1 per cent and buses steady at 91 per cent.

A passenger uses a myki Quick Top Up machine.

The PTV fare compliance survey identified evaders who did a runner, hoverers who pretended to touch on, those who did not touch on their mykis, and those who had insufficient balances when travelling between zones.

PTV chief executive Jeroen Weimar said that as the number of passengers and services increased, PTV was exploring new ways to make it simpler and quicker to top up myki cards and travel with valid tickets.

“In addition to rolling out faster myki readers, contactless payment machines and trials of next-generation quick top-up machines at key locations, we’re also trialling new technology to allow passengers to top up on the go,” he said.

The surveys are conducted in May and October each year.

Almost 40,000 metropolitan passengers and more than 17,000 V/Line commuters had their tickets checked for the May 2018 survey.

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