The number of fare dodgers in Amsterdam metros and trams rose so fast last year that municipal public transport company GVB is starting a special campaign. Remarkably enough, the capital seems to be an exception, because the number of non-paying travelers is significantly lower in Rotterdam and The Hague.
Before corona, the number of fare dodgers in metropolitan public transport was not shockingly high, since then the numbers have been increasing. The number of travelers who boarded the metro, tram or bus without paying increased by more than 40 percent last year, the Municipal Transport Company (GVB) notes in a new annual report.
In trams without a conductor, 4.5 percent of passengers drove black during checks. In the metro it was 2.2 percent. In trams with a conductor and in the bus, GVB enforcers caught 1.1 and 0.8 percent of the checked passengers respectively on fare evasion. The percentages are based on more than 700,000 regular checks in 2022. Inspectors checked which travelers had and had not paid.
Fare-dodging occurs relatively more often in the vicinity of schools, according to the GVB. “We see greater concentrations of gates kicked open and travelers without a valid ticket at metro stations near schools,” says spokesman Edgar van de Pas.
Norm blurring and aggression
The GVB has no clear explanation for the increase. “Non-paying travelers in public transport are of all times. However, since corona we have seen more blurring of standards and aggression in our ticket checks. It seems as if not paying for public transport has become normal. Some people think: ‘It’s nice not to pay because public transport will run anyway’.”
To reduce the number of fare dodgers, the municipal public transport company launched the campaign ‘Don’t check in? What the BLIEP’ started. The aim is to reduce the loss of income lost in 2022 due to fare dodging by 1.5 million euros.
“That bleep is the sound you hear when you check in,” says Van de Pas. “With the campaign we want to make our travelers aware that not paying for your trip is anti-social. It is normal to always check in. That is also super simple with your debit card, so we disprove excuses and excuses not to pay.”
It seems as if not paying in public transport has become normal
Edgar van de Pas, GVB Amsterdam
The campaign – with advertisements in all GVB buses, trams and metros – is aimed at all travellers. “We realize that certain, deliberately non-paying travelers, do not allow themselves to be guided. The focus is therefore on the followers, travelers who display ‘herd behaviour’.” With the campaign, the GVB also wants to support its own drivers, conductors and inspectors in addressing fare dodgers.
Only slight increase in The Hague and Rotterdam
While Amsterdam suffers from a large number of fare dodgers, that is not too bad in Rotterdam and The Hague. Only a slight increase can be observed in the other two large cities. For example, the number of non-paying passengers in HTM trams in The Hague was 2.3 percent last year. That is slightly higher than the 1.6 percent in 2019, before corona. There was no increase in buses: only 0.7 percent of travelers did not check in.
In Rotterdam, only 1 in 100 metro passengers drove black during checks last year. That is almost the same percentage as a year earlier. The number did grow in the tram: from 1.19 to 1.42 percent in 2022. In Rotterdam buses, the number of non-paying travelers was only 0.52 percent. However, that was even less a year earlier at 0.33 percent.
The RET is not very concerned. “We have bigger problems than fare dodgers,” says spokesman Rolf Harbers. “Such as the number of travelers who are still lagging behind since corona.” There will therefore not be a special campaign in Rotterdam for the time being.
We have bigger problems in Rotterdam than fare dodgers
Rolf Harbers, spokesperson for RET
The RET acknowledges that the checks do not say everything. “But we check most in the areas where we suspect that there is more frequent black-driving,” says Harbers. The fact that the number of fare dodgers in trams and buses rose slightly is due to cutbacks on conductors due to corona.
Control moment
The question is of course how it is possible that there is so much more black driving in Amsterdam than in The Hague and Rotterdam. The GVB cannot answer that question. “That remains a guess for us,” says spokesman Van de Pas. ,,It can depend on many things, such as the control moment. In any case, such percentages are variable, for the same money the number of fare dodgers in The Hague and Rotterdam will soon rise again.”
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