Fare Evasion

[smithylad1969]

Other than being caught in the act, Companies are mainly using data analysis software to catch customers - flagging up a suspicious customers by regularly short faring etc
how would they catch a regular barrier tailgater ? They are not leaving a digital trail ?

 

[tatitiliti]

Other than being caught in the act, Companies are mainly using data analysis software to catch customers - flagging up a suspicious customers by regularly short faring etc
how would they catch a regular barrier tailgater ? They are not leaving a digital trail ?

Welcome to the forum.

If you want advice about something specific that happened, please provide more details.

If this is a general question, then normally via:

- Gateline staff tip-offs followed by an intelligence gathering and targeted stop (it’s usually quite obvious to staff and easy to catch if there’s any kind of pattern)

- Onboard checks on a service where the origin station has a closed gateline

- Any data left from taps at one end if the tailgating is being done in combination with another method (e.g. non-functional contactless card)

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Other than being caught in the act (...)
how would they catch a regular barrier tailgater ? They are not leaving a digital trail ?

To a large extent you have answered your own question. Someone tailgating would still be at risk of being picked up on the train at a ticket inspection - we see plenty of people seeking help here after being caught on train. As an exception, TfL don't seem to do ontrain inspections very much, but they are known to review and follow up CCTV to identify frequent offenders, and wait for the offender to show up to challenge them.

 

[Mawkie]

I always laugh to myself when I hear tailgaters fare evaders saying about CSAs, "They just sit there on their ipad, so I don't feel bad about not paying".

Little do those fare evaders know the CSA has access to a special TfL designed app that allows them to record fare evasion, and it includes boxes to describe anything unusual about the evader.

This digital information is then collated centrally and a pattern of evasion is created, thus allowing revenue teams to meet said evaders at their usual station, at their usual time, wearing their usual identifiable clothing/shoes/bag.

 

[Swedenorer]

how would they catch a regular barrier tailgater ? They are not leaving a digital trail ?

By not being as stupid as people think they are. You think all their enforcement staff are in uniform? The staff talk to each other - you'f be surprised at how much customer facing staff see and share with each other - and of course they have seen and heard it all before. A true story which happened in front of me about twenty years ago at East Croydon. Four Southern RPIs boarded - ah yes an inspection. No way they went to First Class and direct to a bloke who then tried the 'I thought it had been declassified' line. They turfed him out did nothing else and left before the train departed. Staff talking to staff you see. Data analysis is easy but there is no replacement for feet on the ground.

 

[Tallguy]

Well the train companies must have a field day with me if they are tracking my journey history which can best be described as ‘erratic in the extreme’ Combining pre-bought tickets with on demand, split ticketing, use of contactless or Oyster combined with numerous random journeys…..

 

[Swedenorer]

Well yes but that sort of randomness will look OK. The majority that get here are simple almost predictable patterns of behaviour or journeys that simply look unlikely - for example someone who habitually buys a ticket from Hersham to Esher then they claim 'gets a lift' to say Vauxhall and buys to Wloo. Looking, on the balance of probability, like evasion but even then they depend on the person incriminating themselves unless stopped. And of course the person who habitually travels from Hilsea to Amberley without a ticket at all has to be caught red handed! Nothing to research there!

 

[Chiltern 165]

TfL don't seem to do ontrain inspections very much

I see them quite a bit, but they seemingly don’t actually do inspections.

I recently saw an inspector on the bus (start of the route) who was hovering around the scanner before leaving the bus… very bizzare.