Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has joined forces with public transport operators British Transport Police (BTP) and Strathclyde Police in an exercise to clamp down on ticket fraud, which is estimated to cost public transport users about £3m annually.
Bus operators First, Arriva Scotland West, Stagecoach Western and McKindless took part in the joint ticket inspection exercise, along with rail operators First ScotRail and SPT Subway.
The exercise was planned in conjunction with operators and police to expose passengers travelling with fake, out of date, altered or inappropriate tickets. Inspection teams gave no advance warning of the clampdown.
About 21,000 tickets were inspected during the checks on 12-16 January. Our findings indicate ticket fraud is becoming increasingly difficult, but continues to be a chance some people think is worth taking.
Results showed that approximately 0.8% of passengers were travelling without a valid ticket. This is a decrease in ticket fraud since the last ticketing initiative in 2006, when 1.4% of travellers did not have a valid ticket. The downturn is mainly due to ever-increasing security measures.
SPT Chair, Alistair Watson, said: "It’s the height of folly to risk getting a criminal record for the price of a bus, rail or Subway ticket.
"We are determined to stamp out this type of fraud, because the money it costs the transport industry could be spent improving the public transport network and keeping fares down.
"I welcome this initiative once again and hope it will make people think twice about using fake tickets. There is still a hard core of public transport users who persist in acts of fare evasion and they need to understand there is every chance they will be caught."
