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People still not paying fare evasion fines
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)
Shane Woodford | Email news tips to shane.woodford@corusent.com
2/27/2013

Despite a change in legislation to force fare cheats to pay their fines Translink says they aren't yet seeing much of a difference.
 
Spokesperson Derek Zabel says rate of payment on fare evasion tickets is up by less than one percent compared to 2010.  

"We are seeing about an 18-percent return right now but there is a lot of people within that ninety day window and the 90-days really kicked in on December 4th and that would be from September 4th so really we are still in the middle of the 90-day period before your ticket now gets forwarded over to ICBC or it gets sent over to collections right."

Zabel says 10,946 fare evasion tickets have been written since September 4th compared to 12,395 over the same period the year previous.
 
He says they have also done 200,000 more fare checks.

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  1. ChrisM_18 posted on 02/27/2013 07:53 PM
    No surprise here, people are going to wait for specific action to be taken against them
    nobody really believes that the fines are going to be enforced , so until something concrete like not being able to renew their ICBC insurance shows up , letters and threatening phone calls are the equivalent of a fart in a wind storm
  2. lindsaym_7673 posted on 02/27/2013 07:56 PM
    I am getting really sick and tired of hearing about this fare evasion crap all the time on the news.
    1. ChrisM_18 posted on 02/27/2013 08:07 PM
      @lindsaym_7673 Well, there's two paths here, get serious about penalizing fare evaders , or just give up and I have the transit system paid through taxes
      Which way do you think we should go ?
    2. UnemployedinBC posted on 02/28/2013 12:27 PM
      @lindsaym_7673 Its low hanging fruit. CKNW doesnt want to address real issues that effect the people of BC like high unemployment of British Columbians over the age of 40.
  3. CraigB_3032 posted on 02/27/2013 08:08 PM
    These fare evaders should be publicly ridiculed and their names should be published. They are committing a crime by not paying their fair share. Perhaps if everyone pays accordingly, Translink may not be in need of more money. That is highly unlikely though.
    1. Ken280 posted on 02/27/2013 10:21 PM
      @CraigB_3032 Maybe we have reached a era, where the right wing feel that an evaders should be, publicly flogged!Go NDP Go
    show more replies
  4. ChrisW_18 posted on 02/28/2013 06:39 AM
    Start crucifying the evaders. Put the crosses up at Skytrain stations... That'll learn people :)
    1. Ken280 posted on 02/28/2013 09:22 AM
      @ChrisW_18 Wow! Chris,crosses? You think! haha
    2. Ken280 posted on 02/28/2013 09:44 AM
      @ChrisW_18 We will see if the fare gates will work if so then they should have been in from the start, If we remember it was Grace McCarthy, the former minister of BC Transit, whose government under then Premier Bill Bennett was responsible for launching SkyTrain and chose that it would be an honor system and to trust the people! All for Expo 86. It took this long to try and do something about this problem, lets see if it will work.
    show more replies
  5. NewKat posted on 02/28/2013 10:19 AM
    If they are unpaid after 60 days, they should be turned over to a collection agency to handle. The sense of entitlement these fare cheaters have is unbelievable. You use the system, you pay the fare. Simple.
    1. UnemployedinBC posted on 02/28/2013 12:33 PM
      @NewKat Hire the Hells Angels to monitor and enforce fare cheats. end of problem.
    2. UnemployedinBC posted on 02/28/2013 12:33 PM
      @NewKat Hire the Hells Angels to monitor and enforce fare cheats. end of problem.
  6. DebraA_2 posted on 02/28/2013 11:37 AM
    11,000 tickets?? Unpaid tickets is just one facet of this mess.
    There's enough blame for everyone here, regarding Translink, employees and fare evaders. First we have a bloated and overpaid bureacracy, duplicating many tasks and continuously whining about "underfuding".
    We then have the overpaid and double dipping, so-called "Transit police" who have been caught bullying 90 year old seniors who move too slowly when retrieving their pass, but ignoring the young, muscle bound evaders.

    AND we have bus drivers who not only don't enforce fares, some of them actually tell you not to bother paying. I was blown away when I heard callers repeating my own experience of being told, by a driver, not to bother paying - because "nobody does". Another one of my drivers invited four young and friendly skate boarders on, without paying. It's almost as if they want Translink to fail - but why?? Sabotage the current Government??

    If I could collect my bar tab money from inebriated and fiesty patrons when I worked as a 24 year old 120lb waitress, why can't our adequately paid drivers collect fares from those users who do not appear to pose a threat (i.e. the majority of riders)??
  7. UnemployedinBC posted on 02/28/2013 12:24 PM
    Well DUH. I would say most people who dont pay fares are the transit zealots and bicycle weenies who dont own a car anyway. So no use trying to tie fare evasion to a BCDL or ICBC. I would suggest bringing Rudolf Giuliani to be hired to fix the problem of fair cheats and along with this as he did in NY the crime rate will drop too.
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