Ticket Inspectors onboard buses.

[dvboy]

I've seen drivers letting on people for free when no change or out off date concession passes

Seen it happen here when the card machine is broken too.

There was a man on my bus the other day arguing over a child ticket he had purchased with his card. He was told by the inspector its his fault as he agreed to purchase it and would have seen what it said on the scanner.

In my mind that is partly on the driver for agreeing to sell the child ticket and pressing the relevant button on the machine before the card was presented, unless the person looked like they could potentially be under 16.

 

[Mwanesh]

Seen it happen here when the card machine is broken too.


In my mind that is partly on the driver for agreeing to sell the child ticket and pressing the relevant button on the machine before the card was presented, unless the person looked like they could potentially be under 16.

When they ask for a child day ticket I issue them one. I don't ask for ID that's for inspectors. It happens very often adults ask for a child day ticket. Nothing to do with the driver the prices are displayed right on the reader.

 

[Typhoon]

National Express West Midlands certainly had them when I lived in Birmingham 2000-2015. The north-bound stops at 6 Ways Erdington were frequently used as a location for on-board inspections, and I'm pretty sure a drug sniffer dog would occassionally embark on a quick tour of both decks ......

It was really a combination of revenue protection and a high-visibility response to anti-social behaviour.

Similar era. Unlike other inspections I have come across (eg London, Stagecoach South East), the bus stopped, someone (Inspector, Police Office) would go upstairs and ask passengers to have their tickets and passes ready. There would be at least two Inspectors, but usually more, checking tickets and others - usually police - waiting for anyone trying to do a runner. It was a serious operation. I was stopped just because I happened to be getting off - my pass had already been checked (6 ways going south).

They tended to check at places where several routes pass. I can remember Acocks Green, Bearwood and Witton Cemetery. There might be buses behind waiting to be checked.

It was a minor inconvenience but judging by the numbers of passengers I used to see disembarking and lining up, it got results.

Maybe i can kind of understand on TFL buses which have rear doors where people might sneak on without the driver seeing. Also the drivers on TFL buses rarely seem to be properly paying attention to any ticket you show them.

Some sneak on when those with prams or pushchairs get on via the middle doors. I try and avoid the LT class but I understood the rear doors were not used any more (thanks, Boris). Otherwise most tickets and passes are surely checked by the 'Beep machine' (whatever it is called), only interlopers like me from outside the Capital need to be checked. If people think their ticket will be checked, more will buy them. Not far away there are three consecutive stations, schools at the two end ones, journey time 7 minutes. Some journeys are pretty packed (and not just with pupils), none have gates, staffing is nil or part time, travelers tend to exit via side entrances, not the booking hall. I reckon there are quite a few who haven't paid. Little incentive to do so.

 

[Statto]

I haven't seen any inspectors in my area Wirral for at least well over a decade.

One scam some are trying is mobile data not working, & have no cash or contactless bankcard so they can't pay for a ticket, so try & get a free ride that way.

 

[Ianigsy]

First Aberdeen's ticketer machines show an amber LED when a student ticket is scanned and the drivers - almost without exception in my experience - demand to see a student ID card.

Although how difficult it is to produce a fake student ID card is another matter.

Somebody I worked with about 20 years ago had a boyfriend who worked for one of the student unions in Leeds, who used to run her one off every year.

Had my first encounter with a couple of these inspectors the week before last - one person was sent to the driver to buy a new weekly ticket, but the inspectors didn’t seem to have any equipment to check that bank cards had been tapped in, or to scan my mobile ticket.

 

[WAB]

Some sneak on when those with prams or pushchairs get on via the middle doors. I try and avoid the LT class but I understood the rear doors were not used any more (thanks, Boris). Otherwise most tickets and passes are surely checked by the 'Beep machine' (whatever it is called), only interlopers like me from outside the Capital need to be checked. If people think their ticket will be checked, more will buy them.

There are plenty of high value passes (Zip young person photocards, 60+, jobseekers and freedom passes) which get stolen or loaned and used by the wrong person. Drivers are often afraid to challenge fare dodgers who may be carrying knives etc. The dodgers don't tend to be so bold when faced with half a dozen inspectors with a couple of PCs looming nearby.