Do Busways Bus Drivers Treat Fare Evaders Different To Other Bus Region

From Lester, secretary of the  Mount Druitt Commuters Improvement Group Inc. and  'whyilovemountdruitt' Face Book group member, an interesting topic that we  don't like to talk about. Maybe if there are any educators out in our community, we can send a strong message of  paying fare is fare for our community.

I'm sue that a majority of our community do 'Tap on' and 'Tap off' using the Opal Card. I had witnessed this many times.

Here is  what Lester has witness from  Bus operators around Sydney:

Some observations I've noted on how different bus companies deal with fare evaders on their buses.

On a recent trip on Busways Route 759 from Lethbridge Park to Mt Druitt Interchange, some boys got on the bus at Emerton Village without tapping on. They were not challenged by the female driver because of their big build. The boys got off the bus along Carlisle Avenue. I asked the driver why she did not challenge the boys when the bus reached Mt Druitt Interchange. She said she and her colleagues had been advised by their Manager at the depot not to challenge fare evaders because they are vulnerable.

I recall a story on "A Current Affair" where some Transport for NSW Ticket Inspectors boarded a Busways bus at Mt Druitt and found half had not bothered to tap on. There were plenty of  "F" and "C" words floating about when the Inspectors wrote out fines.  The Transport for NSW Ticket Inspectors now have jurisdiction to check fares on private buses as the private bus companies are now contractors and operate routes under contract to the Government under a franchise  model.

On the Transit Systems Route 804 from Parramatta to Fairfield and Transdev Route 905 from Fairfield to Bankstown, I've observed both Transit Systems and Transdev drivers openly challenging passengers not tapping on.  If they don't have enough credit on their Opal cards, they then pay a cash fare to the driver who issues a paper ticket.  These two bus companies obviously have a different policy to Busways.

Likewise travelling on a few State Transit bus routes operating out of the City, their drivers also challenge passengers who don't tap on.

Editors notes: this is where when Busways is tendering for the  NSW Bus Region 1, they can outline what their Busways Bus drivers do to prevent fare evasion. If their bus drivers saying nothing allowing kit to happen - is this  Busways Policy? Stake holders could consider the tending  based on this.