Almost one in every ten bus trips in Victoria is not paid for
December 13, 2012
Almost one in every ten bus trips in Victoria is not paid for, according to the latest Public Transport Victoria fare evasion survey.
The survey, released Tuesday, shows about 9.4 percent of about 1.8 million weekday trips
were taken for free in October.
This equates to almost 170,000 free trips on Melbourne’s public transport network each weekday.
About 9.1 percent of bus trips, 10.5 percent of tram trips, and 8.8 percent of train trips weren’t paid for.
Victorian Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder welcomed the figures, which he says show a reduction in fare evasion.
“In the October 2012 survey, overall Melbourne fare evasion was 9.4 percent which compares with 11.9 percent a year ago and 13.5 percent in May 2012,” he says.
Mulder says fare evasion costs the government about $80 million a year.
“Travelling without a ticket is no different to driving off from a petrol station without paying for fuel,” he says.
“It is theft, pure and simple.”