200 years ago the penalty for fare evasion, or not carrying a valid ticket, was one month's imprisonment with hard labor!
Despite the dramatic change in penalties in the past 200 years, Transperth still can boast the lowest rate of fare evasion in the country.
Less than one per cent of passengers on the Transperth network are fare evaders, compared to between five and 10 per cent in other cities.
Director of Security Services Steven Furmedge said PTA staff have worked hard over the last ten years to bring the rate of fare evasion down.
“There are about 500 staff who conduct regular ticket checks on board trains, at stations and at fare gates. They are revenue protection officers, transit officers, customer service assistants and passenger ticketing assistants. Everyone works really hard to make sure that only people with a valid ticket are on our services.
Steve said SmartRider also plays an important role in preventing fare evasion.
“SmartRider makes it really easy for people to pay as they enter stations or arrive at platforms. It also means that we can carry out about half a million ticket checks a week by scanning the cards and checking if they have been validated before someone boards a service.
“We issue about 1500 to 2000 fines each week. Obviously we would like it if we didn’t have to issue any but that’s probably not realistic.”
“All Transperth staff who conduct ticket checks provide a visible security presence on our network and there is evidence to suggest it makes all our passengers feel even safer.”