The cost of fare evasion revealed

Almost $40 million was lost in fare evasion over the past financial year, according to Transport Victoria data.

167 people are being caught a day.

61,258 fines were issued for failing to produce a valid ticket in 2018, up from 57,484.

The fine for being caught without a ticket is $242, with that money set to recoup $14.8 million of the money lost.

PTV boss Jerome Weimar told 3AW Breakfast they were focussed on stamping out fare evasion.

“We do regular surveys, we know over 95% of people do pay the right fare for their journeys, so it’s a small minority of people,” he said.

“We reckon we lose around $40 million of fares that they should have been paying.”

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