Yesterday, CKNW’s Janet Brown broke the story that TransLink estimates almost $11 million has been lost in the past three years because of fare evasion on buses. This is a staggering number, but it’s the trend that is most concerning:

In 2008 TransLink lost $2.4-million from bus customers refusing to pay fares.

In 2009 the losses totalled $3.1-million.

In 2010 the loss was $5.3-million.

To put the $11 million into perspective, that’s more than four million single-zone passengers not paying over the past three years.

This is the classic Rudy Giuliani/Broken Windows theory at play. Basically, people see the product of illegal behaviour of others and emulate it. On a street, a house with a broken window is soon joined by others with broken windows. Or as a wag on Twitter put it last week: when you leave a dish in the sink instead of the dishwasher, other dishes are soon put in the sink by other family members.

It’s clear what’s happening on these buses. People are watching scofflaws get on without paying, and seeing there are no consequences for those actions. The next time they don’t have the exact change, they mimic the behaviour of others and ride for free. With no accountability or fear of being caught, this behaviour will spread.

So why don’t drivers stop these fare evaders? Well, another CKNW story this morning fills in that gap:

A bus driver who suffered a beating at the hands of passenger who didn't pay is hoping his attacker spends some time behind bars, "I think he should get a minimum of two years less a day."

Charles Dixon says he hasn't worked since he was assaulted February 15th by Del Louie, "Sucker-punched me into my right side of my face, my cheek area. I have permanent mild to moderate brain damage, back injuries. I still cannot feel my right side of my nose or my upper right lip. A message has to be sent to the general public, it's not their God-given right to come onto (the) bus and assault us."

Dixon says he's been assaulted 14 times in the 25 years he's been a bus driver. Louie will be sentenced Tuesday in Vancouver at 2 p.m.

These drivers’ primary responsibility is to drive the bus safely.

Ah, but you say there are overpaid transit police officers now, and they should be out there on buses, helping these poor drivers. Well, if you can believe it, transit police don’t ride buses. They were going to, but that idea was scrapped when the transit police board fired former chief constable Ward Clapham. So now transit cops stick to SkyTrain or their own squad cars.
 

All of this information has come to light just as TransLink forces another two cents per litre gas tax increase on Metro Vancouver drivers. Talk about unfair: while 4.4 million people have ridden the bus for free, we drivers have to pay 17 cents in gas tax to TransLink every time we fill up, plus millions more in hydro levies, property taxes, and parking taxes. We don’t get the option of a free ride.

The one heartening fact from this story is that TransLink now seems to be warming up to the fare gates they fought the provincial government on. As TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie says:

“Well of course in the future within I would say the next 18 months, it's going to be absolutely obvious who's paying and who's not when we go to the compass card system because when people get on Skytrain or a bus they'll actually perform a transaction with the reader they'll hold the card up it will beep you know the fare's been paid and you'll also know when it hasn't been paid and that's where you talk then about other strategies for dealing with non-payment.”

Of course, what will stop the “beepless” bus riders from simply walking past a physically intimidated driver and riding for free? Nothing.

TransLink needs to get spot checks going with its transit police on buses. They must have a pretty good idea which routes are seeing the most fare evaders (I’d guess the ones with multi-door boarding), and doing random spot checks (truly random—fare evaders can’t be able to discern a pattern) there is a simple start that will hopefully take a bite out of fare evasion.