Anyone found travelling without a valid ticket on Nottingham Express Transit from 1st October will be liable to a new penalty fare amount with it increasing from £50 to £70. Its hoped that this increase will help to further reduce the amount of ticketless travel.
Travel Officers have been travelling on the network again since May and as part of their role, alongside providing help and assistance to passengers, they are checking to ensure people are traveling with valid tickets. Data gathered from these officers has shown that fare evasion has fallen from 25% in May to 5% in September.
The increase in penalty fare is the latest step to further tackle fare evasion with passengers now able to use a variety of methods to buy a ticket before travelling including ticket machines at every stop, the Robin Hood Smartcard and the NETGO! app.
Tim Hesketh, CEO of Tramlink Nottingham, said: “We are encouraged by the continued fall in fare evasion but 5% is still too high and that is why we are increasing the penalty fare as a further deterrent. Fare evaders are a small minority but their actions take the city and our loyal customers for a ride, undermining the huge efforts and investment we are all making to get Nottingham and the local economy moving again. With fares from just £1 it has never been easier to buy a ticket so our message to fare evaders is simple – do the right thing and pay your way to support your city.”