San Francisco CA - The San Francisco Chronicle reports on massive losses from fare cheats on the San Francisco MUNI system. Sadly this is a problem that isn't limited to MUNI but effects systems nationwide.
From fake passes to just plain refusing to pay, MUNI estimates it loses tens of millions of dollars each year and that's just from the rail stations. The estimate of between $24.7 to $33.4 million a year doesn't include the bus operation which could raise the amount by at least 10% or more.
While part of the problem is a large amount of broken fare boxes on the buses at MUNI, the bulk of the loss occurs on the rails where between 54 and 73 percent of the riders don't pay or show proof that they paid. Expensive fare barriers and fare collection technology has had little impact in keeping the fare cheats off the system and most likely it never will.
What MUNI and other systems need to do is just bite the bullet and hire sufficient numbers of fare inspectors and give up on the billions wasted on the useless technology that has ended up costing them billions in lost fares nationwide.
In addition, fines for counterfeit passes need to be higher than $500 and just a summary offence and the fare policy needs to be strictly enforced. It needs to be a misdemeanor with fines in excess of $5,000 to even start to make a dent in the fake passes. Those that distribute the fake passes need an automatic $100,000 or more fine and a year cooling their heels in jail. Once people have to start forking out serious cash and even serving jail time, you will find a dramatic drop in the number of fare cheats riding the system and the enabling others to cheat on the fares. It won't eliminate the problem but it will stop many from buying the fake passes if they know they stand a good chance of getting caught and paying hefty fines along with getting a criminal record.
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