A New Series of "Fare Dodgers At War With the Law..."

I have started seeing or noticing more examples of people getting on a TfL bus service using the middle door so broadly out of sight of the driver.

And now I notice some bus drivers turning round in their cab and looking back at the "exit".

I see people bracing themselves for the effort of forcing ticket gates open.

As for the programme - I am not following it closely as it is a bit slow. I get bored of documentaries that keep repeating the end of a story but never seem to get there. Plus you see what the punishment is - not very much.

Mcr Warrior said:

Having viewed last night's latest episode, the Nottingham trams system looks as if it's an challenging environment of an evening.

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It looks positively ghastly, based on the last couple of episodes. Such egregious behaviour.

Jimini said:

It looks positively ghastly, based on the last couple of episodes. Such egregious behaviour.

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NET makes the TfL network looks positively tame.

Thirteen said:

NET makes the TfL network looks positively tame.

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I certainly would not be considering Nottingham for any short break! I wonder how the local hospitality industry feels about this sort of publicity.

Watching this weeks episode, the police became involved and arrested a guy who was apparently wanted for theft, yet at the end it said he was released as it was mistaken identity.

I’m no expert on how they arrive at the judgements, but it does seem to me that some of the fines and costs issued are disproportionate to the level of offences and it’s no surprise that some people choose to risk it when, in many cases, the amount they save seems to far exceed the amount they’re asked to pay if/when they’re eventually caught.

I think most people overlook the effect of a criminal record. Once they have a criminal record then it can severely limit their job prospects especially if they are educated. That is something that needs a higher profile in publicity about fare dodging.

There are the feral youths who really do not care though. There is a culture amongst some that a spell in prison is a badge of honour.

But I still find the level of fines rather underwhelming.

Watching this weeks episode and the comment of “since when are they checking tickets on the busses”?…..I was checked on a bus last weekend which was honestly the first time I’ve been checked on a bus in at least fifteen years if not longer.

I was checked once five years or so back, nothing new.

This series seems to have followed the same 'plot' every week:

1. Someone doing prolonged fare dodging on the Elizabeth line - generally on the eastern end. Is this because the teams who consented to be filmed work that end or is it more of a problem than in west London?
2. Following a team on the buses who encounter a range of excuses.
3. Catching up with some of the more feral citizens of Nottingham.

Got the impression that TfL are not always helping themselves with preventing fare dodging. Episode 5 had a guy short faring from Ilford to Stratford before continuing to Queensbury each morning and doing the reverse in the evening. He was caught because he always topped up his Oyster at a shop outside Queensbury station. The programme seemed to suggest that the reason for his short faring was the the barriers at Queensbury were virtually always open and unstaffed -begs the question why?

Lots of the bus passengers seemed to be teenagers. I have the dubious pleasure of bus stop duty every day at the school I work in. A good number of the students don't have Zip cards ('forgot it', 'it's in the post' etc) and drivers rarely challenge this. Completely understand why a driver doesn't and also understand that denying boarding to a child can leave that young person vulnerable, but in the minds of many teenagers (and their parents) it creates the impression that the buses are an environment where you don't need to touch in.

ANDREW_D_WEBB said:

Someone doing prolonged fare dodging on the Elizabeth line - generally on the eastern end. Is this because the teams who consented to be filmed work that end or is it more of a problem than in west London?

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Getting very boring and very repetitive. Happy to see SWR making a return next week. I also wanted to see them follow actual gateline/train revenue inspectors. Would also be nice to see any other TfL mode.

Personally I think it’s a complete waste of resources for the bus inspectors to waste their time challenging (clearly Zip-card aged) children. Nothing is lost and there are actual fare evaders that require their attention.

I’ve stopped watching it.

Yes, it is getting decidedly boring, particularly the Nottingham tram bits. It seems to have been largely filmed late last year which would explain at least on 455 appearing in the trailers - or did they use archive footage for that?

davews said:

I was checked once five years or so back, nothing new.

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Obviously I know they check tickets on busses, it’s just that I was a little taken aback to see an RPI, having honestly not been checked on a bus for more years than I can remember.

As to the programme content, yes I agree that it’s getting repetitive, and also some of the comments and situations seem odd or don’t add up, this week they said the guy was using an unauthorised card which was on his phone. I posted this a few weeks back, I had an issue where a technical failure at the bank meant my payment was declined so TFL blocked my card. I used Applepay until the issue was resolved but technically it was the same card, which for several days was “unauthorised”, and was on my phone….

I also got irritated by the older male bus inspector saying you wouldn’t go into a supermarket and steal a sandwich……wanna bet? In my store we’ve definitely had a large increase in people picking up sandwiches and meal deals and just walking out as they know we’re told not to physically intervene and they will most likely get away with it.