Tackling Fare Evasion on Calgary s CTrain System

Transcription

1 Tackling Fare Evasion on Calgary s CTrain System 12 th National Light Rail Conference Sustaining the Metropolis: LRT and Street Cars for Super Cities Salt Lake City, Utah November 2012

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3 Profile of Calgary Transit Medium sized integrated transit agency with a staff of 2,700. Bus system-170 routes/4500 route kilometres(2796 miles). Surface level Light Rail Transit system characterized as an open system 980 buses ( foot and articulated buses, 117 community shuttle buses) and 192 light rail vehicles.

4 Calgary Transit s CTrain Opened in 1981 it now includes: 3 legs, 40 stations West LRT opening December 10 th, ( 32 miles (52 kilometres) of dual track 275,000 daily weekday trips 500,000 bus and rail daily weekday trip In 2011, there were 96 million revenue trips

5 Fare Facts 55% of transit operating costs are budgeted through fare revenue. Adult fare $2.75/Monthly pass $94.00 CTrain system fare evasion rate calculated at 4.5% in Fine for no fare $ (1 st Conviction). Fine revenue is deposited back into Calgary Transit.

6 Proof of Payment Policy Framework Voluntary compliance is the goal. Compliance is achieved through customer education, payment convenience, specific and general deterrence, and supportive legislation. Enforcement is conducted by Calgary Transit Peace Officers. Fine revenue is placed back into Calgary Transit General Revenue Fund.

7 Calgary Transit Public Safety & Enforcement Peace Officers patrol the transit system continuously. They conduct proof of payment checks, respond to disorder, make arrests and respond to customer calls for assistance.

8 Analyzing Fare Evasion

9 Operation Fare Warning(2009) Train operators give a two-stop advance warning announcement of peace officers checking fares. 69 free riders disembarked and purchased fares at the next station and reboarded. 29 did not and were ticketed.

10 2011 Fare Compliance Study Methodology: Conducted May 25 th to June 25 th, ,499 people checked for proof of payment 1499 people failed to purchase a fare 4.5% system wide fare evasion rate (CTrain) 94% of fare evaders completed a survey

11 How many times have you received a ticket in the past 5 years? Four Times 5.1% More than 5 times, 10.9% Three Times 9.8% Two Times 16.4% Once 57.8%

12 If I saw more Peace Officers on the CTrain I would always pay a fare. Answer Options Response Percent Response Count Yes No 91.3% % 117 answered question 1349 skipped question 50

13 Approximately, what percent of people do you think don t pay a fare? 250 Number of Respondents Perceived Percent of other people who do not pay a fare

14 At this time I was taking Calgary Transit to: 11.6% 22.6% 42.5% Work School Shopping Appointment Home Somewhere else 7.2% 3.4% 12.8%

15 Calgary Transit is my main form of transportation. 23.1% Yes No 76.9%

16 How many stations was the person intending to travel? 80.0% 70.0% More than Six Stations 73% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 1 Station 3% 2 Stations 4% 3 Stations 7% 4 Stations 6% 5 Stations 7% 0.0%

17 Annual Income Before Taxes Less than $15,000 annually 4.0% 5.7% Between $15,000 and $35, % 28.3% Between $35,000 and $55,000 Between $55,000 and $65, % Between $65,000 and $85, % 17.4% 17.5% Between $85,000 and $100,000 Between $100,000 and $125,000 More than $125,000 annually

18 Key Learning's Our High Enforcement Team has been more successful than we could have anticipated. Evasion has decreased Tickets paid sooner and full amounts Fare revenues have increased Current study expected to return an evasion rate of high 2 s/low 3 s per cent evasion rate. The human factor increases perceptions of safety beyond physical access control systems (ROI is high).

19 Key Learning's Higher compliance appears related to enhanced system safety. A safe transit system may result in a diffusion of benefits to overall community safety. A percentage of people will never pay requiring different approaches.

20 Fare Compliance and Safety Less crime and disorder/less evasion Issuing tickets Diffusion of benefits linked to less disorder (diffusion benefit linked to displacement. High visibility Establishes both specific and general deterrence

21 Key Questions Do discretionary practices of bus operators result in higher evasion rates on the light rail system? What is an acceptable fare evasion rate for an open system? What impact will social media have in influencing fare evasion?

22 Achieving Compliance Tweet it Train operator announcements Use of Automated Passenger Information Systems Sandwich Boards Web site announcements Enforcement personnel

23 Customer Notification Systems Notification systems increase compliance and are cheap. Notice can include APIS, media releases, transit agency web site, social media, sandwich boards, operator announcements.

24 Achieving Compliance

25 Conclusions High visibility patrols are the primary strategy to increase compliance. Fare compliance testing needs to take into account weighted sampling methods. Compliance is always the business imperative which requires effective specific deterrence methods to ensure overall general deterrence (compliance)

26 Conclusions An effective proof of payment system is strongly suspected in improving overall system safety (broken windows thesis).

27 ?Questions?

28 My Coordinates. Brian Whitelaw Coordinator Public Safety and Enforcement Section Calgary Transit (403) ISC: Unrestricted