Sneaky riders could face 7-day suspension

• Source: Global Times
• [08:40 August 11 2010]
• Comments

A passenger swipes a transportation card through at a turnstile at a subway station in Shanghai. Photo: IC

By Chen Xiaoru

Subway authorities said Tuesday that passengers caught jumping the turnstiles more than twice a month will be banned from riding any form of public transport for a week when using their public transport card, in an effort to crack down on the growing number of commuters sneaking free trips on the subway.

Though it is unlikely to solve the problem, the new measure is likely to take effect next month, according to officials from the city subway operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Company.

The problem is that an increasing number of passengers are swiping their public transport cards to enter the subway, but ducking under or jumping over the turnstile when leaving the station, meaning that no more than 3 yuan ($0.44) is deducted from their account even if they travel a costlier distance, said Huang Qiongnuo, an official from the Shanghai Shentong Metro Company.

"All this information gets digitally recorded, so when a user of a public transport card does this for a third time in the span of a month, the card gets locked automatically, which means passengers will no longer be able to use it to swipe through," she told the Global Times Tuesday.

"There have been more of these cases happening lately," she added. "This effort is meant to prevent passengers from trying to skip out on the transportation fares they are supposed to pay."

Previously, the cards belonging to passengers who failed to swipe their cards when exiting the station were automatically deducted 6 yuan ($0.89), but authorities cancelled that move in May, after passengers complained that they were unfairly being charged more than the actual cost of their route.

Huang, however, admitted that the new measure may do little in reality as it is hard to track down passengers that fail to swipe their card, but still manage to sneak both in and out of stations.

Moreover, passengers who return a week later with locked cards will be able to get their cards unlocked upon request at no added charge, she said.

Huang declined to comment on how much money the subway operator loses as a result of passengers, who ride the subway without shelling out, but a report by Eastday.com Tuesday said that at least 1 percent of daily passengers ride the subway without paying their owed fares.