Transport chief to tackle fraud

TICKET fraud is costing transport groups €600m a year according to one transport boss.

The president of Keolis, a subsidiary company of the SNCF which runs transport on different regional networks around France, said tackling fraud would be the top priority for the group next year.

Jean-Pierre Farandou said: “It is normal to ask users to pay their share for a service, especially when we know in France, passengers pay 30-33% of the real cost of transport.
“To pay for transport is a civic act, it’s an important economic problem for transport operators.”

He was speaking at national meeting of public transport bodies which is taking place in Bordeaux until November 29.

While the average cost of fraud is 10% of revenue, it did not represent 10% of passengers, said Mr Farandou. He said 60% of those caught without tickets had already been caught once before.

Along with more measures to catch people without tickets, networks should also think about ways to make it easier to pay.

Mr Farandou suggested smartphone applications that could let people pay online and social tariffs as positive methods to encourage people to pay.

Photo: Pict One X