Penalty fare soon?
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PENALTIES may soon be imposed on bus passengers who over-ride or evade payment of fares.
A Conservative amendment to the Transport Bill, which would allow operators to apply to the Traffic Commissioners for authority to charge penalties of either 50p or five times the excess fare (whichever is greater), was tabled last week.
Transport Minister William Rodgers said the government is prepared to accept the amendment provided that there is no general legal implication. In this connection, the industry is keen to stress that these would be penalty fares and not fines.
The Confereration of British Road Passenger Transport claims much credit. for the amendment and believes that it will work in the best interests of passengers.
CPT secretary Derek Rossiter told CM last week, "The honest passenger suffers at the hands of the passenger who wilfully over-rides."
City of Cardiff Transport introduced a penalty fare some 18 months ago, which, with an aggressive marketing policy, has kept passenger and revenue statistics level.
Cardiff charges 40p (children 20p) where a passenger is found to have over-ridden. To date, some 700 penalty fares have been charged, and only seven complaints have been received from the public.
General manager David Smith told CM, "We prefer to use this gentle nudge rather than invoke court proceedings for what are relatively trifling amounts."
Fares evasion costs London Transport around £4 million, and Greater Manchester Transport £1 million.