Guest Post: Self-Service and Mass Transit Difficulties

 

Professor Howard Weiss, developer of our POM and Excel OM software, shares his thought with our readers monthly.

In a blog last year, the difficulties with self-service at Walmart and other retailers were discussed. Mass transit also has self-service problems, but they differ from those at retailers. Fare evasion has emerged as a significant fiscal challenge for mass transit agencies as they incur large losses such as:

• MTA (New York City) – $690 million
• MBTA (Boston) – $644 million
• TfL (London, England) – $175 million
• SEPTA (Philadelphia area) – $20 million
• BART (San Francisco) – $20 million
• West Chester, NY  – $12 million
• MCTS (Milwaukee) – $ 4 million

Milwaukee estimates that one bus route has a 33% fare evasion route and would like to reduce it to 15%. TfL claims a 3.5% rate of fare evasion with a target of 1.5%

Self-service fare collection was developed in Europe in the 1960s by transit agencies facing labor shortages and the need to reduce costs. Originally, subway passengers went through a turnstile serviced by someone who collected the fare. In most modern systems turnstiles are unstaffed, and many riders have been jumping half-height turnstiles or sneaking in behind another passenger. On buses,  some riders enter through the rear exit or emergency doors.

In response to these challenges, transportation authorities are implementing next generation fare evasion gates, typically with full height glass, that make it harder to evade the fare. Another approach is to have more rigorous fare enforcement by hiring more police. Camera technology now includes using facial recognition to identify repeat offenders. Several transportation authorities are turning to educating riders about the harm of fare-jumping and the penalties for fare-jumping.  This includes SEPTA’s posted $300 fine for failing to pay for a ride. These changes will take time and investment to be fully implemented.

When riders are caught evading fares, some systems enforce zero-tolerance policies, issuing citations for every offense, while others adopt a graduated response that begins with a warning. In certain cases, enforcement officers are given discretion to determine the appropriate response.

In some countries, such as Germany, there are no gates or turnstiles, but train passengers are regularly inspected to see that they have a paid ticket and, if not, will be fined. Alternatively, some countries and cities have implemented zero-fare systems, saving money on fare collection and obviously eliminating fare-evasion.

Classroom Discussion Questions:

1. Why does self-service, such as that described in your textbook about Alaska Airlines, work well for airlines but not for mass transit?
2. What is the major advantage of the German, no turnstile method?