I think some good old local politics is in order to help lighten the mood today
Kurrajong on
If someone is skipping a $0.50 fare, is an over $300 fine appropriate? It would be fairer to fine a greater proportion of fare evaders a smaller penalty or better still adopt Finland’s approach to monetary penalties and tie them to IIRC wealth or income.
nobelharvards on
TLDR: Number of fines has gone down, but enforcement has increased.
So more people are complying and paying the 50 cents, but more people are getting caught because there is a higher chance of running into a transit officer.
The headline has been phrased (possibly deliberately) in a way to suggest more people are refusing to pay even with the fare reduced to 50 cents when this isn’t the case.
Most important bits of the article buried in the 2nd half:
> In 2023 — the last full calendar year before discounted prices commenced — authorities gave out 13,486 fines and 60,930 warnings.
> By comparison, in 2025, when all fares were 50 cents, there were 8,614 fines and 45,117 warning notices.
> …
> In 2023, officials carried out 890,019 inspections on go cards and smart ticketing payment methods to ensure commuters had paid the correct fare.
> By 2025, the number of inspections had reached more than 1.16 million.
So ~270k increase in inspections, ~5k decrease in fines and ~15k decrease in warnings.
That’s an increase of ~30% inspections, decrease of ~38% in fines and decrease of ~35% in warnings.
A positive overall outcome, I’d say. Even if you still have to drive a car, there will be fewer cars on the road with only 1-2 people with very little stuff to carry.
cronbelser on
$300 fine seems a bit steep. People who use public transport are usually no-hopers with not much going on upstairs.
4 Comments
I think some good old local politics is in order to help lighten the mood today
If someone is skipping a $0.50 fare, is an over $300 fine appropriate? It would be fairer to fine a greater proportion of fare evaders a smaller penalty or better still adopt Finland’s approach to monetary penalties and tie them to IIRC wealth or income.
TLDR: Number of fines has gone down, but enforcement has increased.
So more people are complying and paying the 50 cents, but more people are getting caught because there is a higher chance of running into a transit officer.
The headline has been phrased (possibly deliberately) in a way to suggest more people are refusing to pay even with the fare reduced to 50 cents when this isn’t the case.
Most important bits of the article buried in the 2nd half:
> In 2023 — the last full calendar year before discounted prices commenced — authorities gave out 13,486 fines and 60,930 warnings.
> By comparison, in 2025, when all fares were 50 cents, there were 8,614 fines and 45,117 warning notices.
> …
> In 2023, officials carried out 890,019 inspections on go cards and smart ticketing payment methods to ensure commuters had paid the correct fare.
> By 2025, the number of inspections had reached more than 1.16 million.
So ~270k increase in inspections, ~5k decrease in fines and ~15k decrease in warnings.
That’s an increase of ~30% inspections, decrease of ~38% in fines and decrease of ~35% in warnings.
A positive overall outcome, I’d say. Even if you still have to drive a car, there will be fewer cars on the road with only 1-2 people with very little stuff to carry.
$300 fine seems a bit steep. People who use public transport are usually no-hopers with not much going on upstairs.