Wasn;t sure where to put this so feel free to move.

As i mentioned in a previous thread I've been using the bus a lot recently to get to work.   In the past when i was a young un I obviously saw different types of fraud like jumping the metro, two lads getting on the bus and passing the bus pass backward so getting 2 on with same pass but what ive seen for the last few days...

A teenager in school uniform ( school in Gateshead )  gets on the 93 i get to Old Durham Road and every time her card is not working. The machine just make that Nosie like a (errrr). Every time the driver has just waved her on but this morning she get a stern talking too as i think the driver must have remembered her.  He still let her on after she said she had no cash wan something about having to walk.... and she had quite a grin on her face as she went upstairs.


Thoughts?

(15 Dec 2023, 10:41 am)Rob44 wrote Wasn;t sure where to put this so feel free to move.

As i mentioned in a previous thread I've been using the bus a lot recently to get to work.   In the past when i was a young un I obviously saw different types of fraud like jumping the metro, two lads getting on the bus and passing the bus pass backward so getting 2 on with same pass but what ive seen for the last few days...

A teenager in school uniform ( school in Gateshead )  gets on the 93 i get to Old Durham Road and every time her card is not working. The machine just make that Nosie like a (errrr). Every time the driver has just waved her on but this morning she get a stern talking too as i think the driver must have remembered her.  He still let her on after she said she had no cash wan something about having to walk.... and she had quite a grin on her face as she went upstairs.


Thoughts?

Us drivers have to be very careful with that type of thing, especially with kids. The company is scared of the bad press of leaving kids stranded, so takes a harsh stance when a driver doesn't let one on and the parents complain. So not many of us do much about it, the kid has clearly cottoned on, and the driver probably has realised what she's doing but feel he can't just leave her still.

Yeah. We have posters about this in the depot and it has in bold at the bottom "never abandon a child"

(15 Dec 2023, 10:41 am)Rob44 wrote Wasn;t sure where to put this so feel free to move.

As i mentioned in a previous thread I've been using the bus a lot recently to get to work.   In the past when i was a young un I obviously saw different types of fraud like jumping the metro, two lads getting on the bus and passing the bus pass backward so getting 2 on with same pass but what ive seen for the last few days...

A teenager in school uniform ( school in Gateshead )  gets on the 93 i get to Old Durham Road and every time her card is not working. The machine just make that Nosie like a (errrr). Every time the driver has just waved her on but this morning she get a stern talking too as i think the driver must have remembered her.  He still let her on after she said she had no cash wan something about having to walk.... and she had quite a grin on her face as she went upstairs.


Thoughts?

Ticket pass backs have happened for years. Once upon a time, kids would spread out in the queue, then the first ones on would run straight upstairs and drop the ticket out the window for one of their mates. It's not really possible with QR coded tickets, as similar to smart cards, I believe they have a short throttling period to stop multi-scans in succession. 

Regarding Metro, I was at Heworth when Heworth Grange was kicking out yesterday. Not a single member of staff there, so the gate-line was wide open to kids on the verge of celebrating that there's "no checkies". I think the ticket barriers have considerably helped to tackle fraud on the core of the system, but it must still be rife in the suburbs. Especially on an evening/at night.

(15 Dec 2023, 10:46 am)deanmachine wrote Us drivers have to be very careful with that type of thing, especially with kids. The company is scared of the bad press of leaving kids stranded, so takes a harsh stance when a driver doesn't let one on and the parents complain. So not many of us do much about it, the kid has clearly cottoned on, and the driver probably has realised what she's doing but feel he can't just leave her still.

I think it's a very difficult judgement for a driver to have to make, so best to err on the side of caution. You never really going to know if it's someone taking the piss of it's someone who is vulnerable. I suppose if you notice a pattern, it's something that should be flagged to management, so that they can try and highlight it to their school or something. Shouldn't be impossible, if the card scan is being attempted (and assuming it's a smart, not a payment card).

(15 Dec 2023, 2:28 pm)Adrian wrote Ticket pass backs have happened for years. Once upon a time, kids would spread out in the queue, then the first ones on would run straight upstairs and drop the ticket out the window for one of their mates. It's not really possible with QR coded tickets, as similar to smart cards, I believe they have a short throttling period to stop multi-scans in succession. 

Regarding Metro, I was at Heworth when Heworth Grange was kicking out yesterday. Not a single member of staff there, so the gate-line was wide open to kids on the verge of celebrating that there's "no checkies". I think the ticket barriers have considerably helped to tackle fraud on the core of the system, but it must still be rife in the suburbs. Especially on an evening/at night.


I think it's a very difficult judgement for a driver to have to make, so best to err on the side of caution. You never really going to know if it's someone taking the piss of it's someone who is vulnerable. I suppose if you notice a pattern, it's something that should be flagged to management, so that they can try and highlight it to their school or something. Shouldn't be impossible, if the card scan is being attempted (and assuming it's a smart, not a payment card).

Exactly, I generally have a "technique" of asking them if they have anything else available, and explaining I'm not suppose to let someone on for free, or ask them if their mates can lend them a pound if not. Then wave them on anyways. 

I've never had the problem of a kid trying it on multiple times with me mind, I'd definitely report it upstairs if I noticed a pattern, I'm not sure GNE have many people to enforce fare evasion though anymore, I've certainly not seen any in a few years.

I’m not a grass so cannot really comment

Was on the E1 yesterday afternoon heading towards sunderland and a RPO got on the bus!! Haven;t seen one of those for years.... and to top it off made several journeys by metro yesterday and never got ticket checked once!

I'm sure Stagecoach were advertising on their jobs section for revenue protection officers not so long back.  First are re-introducing them in some areas so maybe a sign of things to come.

(28 Aug 2024, 11:58 am)Chris 1 wrote I'm sure Stagecoach were advertising on their jobs section for revenue protection officers not so long back.  First are re-introducing them in some areas so maybe a sign of things to come.

Apart from over-riding, what else are they likely to discover?
The expensive, state of the art QR ticket systems must eliminate people slipping on with the wrong ticket or handing them back to their mate behind.

(28 Aug 2024, 5:54 pm)Andreos1 wrote Apart from over-riding, what else are they likely to discover?
The expensive, state of the art QR ticket systems must eliminate people slipping on with the wrong ticket or handing them back to their mate behind.

well this on discovered a lass with no ticket but let her off this time!!!

I think it's taking the revenue protection onus off the driver, in a bid to actually keep drivers who don't want the daily arguments about tickets.