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nel for fare inspection who do not possess police powers: a step further and had a series of short--roughly 2 min in
Buffalo Metro fare inspectors, DART fare enforcement length--YouTube videos on a range of subjects related to
officers, Los Angeles sheriff's security assistants, NYCT using the system, including fare payment.
"Eagle Team" special inspectors, Phoenix police assistants
and private security, and SFMTA/Muni transit fare inspec- Deploying a "show of force" on a new service using PoP
tors. The two primary advantages of this approach are labor fare collection--As demonstrated in Los Angeles and New
cost savings and a force dedicated to one primary purpose, York City, heavy use of inspection enforcement as a show of
fare enforcement. In each case, the inspectors are uniformed force can be a valuable part of educating users exposed to PoP
but not armed. For incidents that require police support, the fare collection for the first time. However, the show of force is
inspectors have radio contact with either transit police or not limited to enforcement activities. In its case study, NYCT
municipal police. provided an example of a customer focus on its two new BRT
routes, where it placed "customer ambassadors" at BRT stops
Adding smart cards to the menu of fare media available along the routes for first 2 to 3 weeks of service.
for fare payment--LA Metro, MinneapolisSt. Paul Metro,
Phoenix METRO, and SFMTA have smart cards as part of Using sweeps (also referred to as blitzes, surges, enhanced
their fare payment mix, and DART is in the process of adding fare enforcement) to demonstrate uniformed presence on the
them. Smart cards are a popular medium for fare payment but system in a serious way --Fare-paying passengers want to
add complications to the PoP fare collection process. The pri- see inspectors. These sweeps, randomly deployed, also send
mary issue for PoP is related to there being nothing printed on a message to evaders, keeping them guessing as to where
the card to allow visual inspection of PoP. Although NYCT's and when a sweep may be called.
is not a smart card, NYCT handled this issue by requiring its
MetroCard users to access special TVMs, insert their card, Using temporary barriers and turnstiles for crowd con-
and acquire a printed receipt. Most operators provide their trol at special events--MinneapolisSt. Paul Metro Transit,
inspectors with handheld verification devices. Smart cards Phoenix METRO, and SFMTA serve major sporting venues
have provided a new fare evasion offense whereby a patron and rely on special techniques for managing crowds, espe-
with a card with value on it does not "tap in" to the system to cially post event. Use of temporary barriers and turnstiles
pay a fare (and have it deducted). Knowingly or not, without also helps with PoP fare inspection, which can be done off-
"tapping" the person has avoided paying a fare. board rather than on crowded trains.
Employing PoP fare collection on BRT services--LA Met-
ro's Orange Line and the two NYCT Select Bus Service routes SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
have shown that PoP can beneficially work for BRT--just as it
does for LRT. The daily ridership on the Orange Line is about Based on the literature review, surveys, and case study inter-
24,000, and both NYCT routes exceed 30,000. Use of the rear views, there are various gaps in data and questions that could
doors for passenger boarding is necessary to minimize station not be answered within the scope of this study. These gaps
dwell times for those services and provide a high operating and questions led to areas identified for further research:
speed. However, for BRT services where station loading vol-
umes may not be sufficient to warrant use of the rear doors in The range of loading volumes that would result in PoP
boarding, it may not be cost-effective to use PoP. fare collection being a cost-effective alternative. At what
range of loading volumes at stations/stops is all-door board-
Using independent management audits as an aid in ing necessary to attain a high operating speed? The evalu-
reviewing an agency's PoP experience --As part of the ation of the cost-effectiveness of alternative fare collection
study, audits for two case study operators, MinneapolisSt. strategies and whether to implement off-board fare payment
Paul Metro Transit and SFMTA, were reviewed. Another and use PoP fare collection depends on whether all-door
study, performed for LA Metro in 2007 but not called an boarding is necessary.
audit, had objectives similar to those of an audit and pro-
vided a useful review of fare evasion on Metro's high-capac- The relationship among the evasion rate, rates of inspec-
ity routes. However, to be useful, the audit needs to provide tion, and penalty amounts. The relationship among these
practical and constructive assistance and not merely search three factors is unclear. How high does a financial penalty
for problems. have to be set to significantly influence the evasion rate?
Which is more important to curbing fare evasion, higher
Expanding the provision of public information via the penalties or higher rates of inspection? What is the best
Internet and YouTube --All of the operators provided some balance between financial penalties and inspection rates?
information on their websites regarding how to pay fares How much discretion is tolerable when it comes to issuing
and the PoP process. Several sites were fairly minimal. On warnings, and what influence, if any, does the rate of issuing
the positive side, MinneapolisSt. Paul Metro Transit went warnings have on evasion?
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A manual or guidelines for statistical analysis of fare The cost-effectiveness of alternative adjudication pro-
evasion. Would there be industry benefit to having a tech- cesses. Are the local agency processes more cost-effective
nical manual that would provide elements of a sampling than the court-oriented approaches? An evaluation of alter-
method for measuring fare evasion and a common defini- native adjudication processes now in operation would con-
tion? Such a manual would help practitioners--most of firm advantages and disadvantages, as well as costs and
whom are not schooled in statistics--with statistical analy- benefits. Such an evaluation would include reviewing the
sis to ensure a reasonable level of accuracy (i.e., number details of the administrative processes, the associated costs
of samples to obtain, inspection techniques, sampling and revenue return to the operator, and the effectiveness in
approaches to ensure representativeness, levels of disaggre- discouraging repeat fare evasion offenses.
gation, and frequency).
The costs--capital, operating, and maintenance--of
A transit smart card forum for PoP operators. How does alternative off-board PoP fare collection and enforcement
the industry keep up with the rapidly changing technologi- approaches. One of the primary data gaps uncovered in this
cal aspects of smart cards? How effective are the handheld synthesis was related to costs (i.e., the capital, operating and
verification devices, and in what ways can they be used to maintenance associated with TVMs, verification devices,
be increasingly cost-effective? There is currently no forum and inspection forces). In addition, some transit proper-
that would facilitate ongoing communication and transfer of ties are implementing fencing and gating to assist in fare
experiences among PoP users. enforcement. What are the added costs--as well as any cost
savings--associated with these measures?
