While free riders enjoy free travel, the treasury incurs losses that may affect the cost of travel, SMI44 learned.
In public transport in Kostroma, cases of ticketless travel have become more frequent. According to regulatory organizations, over the past 5 months, 500 cases of free travel have been identified. 300 people were fined. Daily statistics show an increase in the number of free riders.
Sergey Smirnov, director of the controlling organization:
“There are a lot of violations: ticketless travel, drivers not issuing tickets. Now we identify about 7% of free riders on transport every day. Therefore, measures need to be taken.”
Three groups of inspectors work on the lines every day. They have a special program on mobile phones that allows them to detect the presence of a stowaway on buses. During their work, inspectors already know the typical portrait of a free rider. Most often, students and schoolchildren become hares.
Natalya Lesenkova, leading expert of the audit and control department:
“They are under 16 years old, we have no right to drop them off. They bought tickets and continue to go to the stop they need. The young man had something with the Internet, he did everything, paid for it under control. But, again, if I hadn’t entered control, we would have continued driving the same way. Therefore, we need to explain to young people every time that they need to pay at the entrance. It’s the same with the girl, she’s 15 years old, I checked her passport. I didn’t pay either.”
Lyudmila Ivanova, pensioner:
“This is all about the issue of education. I am a pensioner, my income is small, but I always pay, but if I have no money, I walk, because from childhood I was taught that any work should be paid. And while our youth behave this way, everyone else suffers.”
The more free riders there are on public transport, the worse the economics of transportation are. Everyone understands this, as well as the fact that this will ultimately affect the tariff and lead to an increase in fares. The possibility of increasing the fine for ticketless travel is now being considered. From 2.5 thousand it is proposed to raise it to 5.
