Request ID: FOI-1908-2324 Date published: 26 September 2023
You asked
For say the last 12 months, and more readily available periods to enable trends to be seen:
1. How many occasions have bus drivers reported passengers traveling without paying. Can this be provided by bus route?
2. How many occasions have bus drivers been disciplined/ warned for letting passengers travel. Can this be provided by bus route?
3. How many occasions have station staff reported gateline breaches. Can this be provided by station?
4. What measures are there to test the effectiveness of intelligence led deployment processes for revenue protection?
5.How is the effectiveness of tfl revenue protection measured, such as cost benefit, over say the last 3 years ?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-1908-2324/GH
Thank you for your requests received by Transport for London (TfL) on 30 August and 1 September 2023 asking for information about fare evasion.
Your requests have been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require.
I would also like answers to the following questions, say, for the last 12 months.
How can TFL estimate how much revenue is being lost given that it looks pretty widespread to me?
We use a combination of data including ticketless travel surveys, gate line integrity, and enforcement output across our modes. This data is processed within an analytical model to estimate the unpaid journeys by calculating the number of assumed fare evaded journeys across payment methods.
What percentage of journeys do revenue protection officers attend?
To answer this question we would need to manually check duty sheets Revenue Protection Officers across all transport modes. This would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
Do revenue protection officers review bus CCTV footage to identify which drivers fail to stop fare evasion?
TfL has established processes for those who can view CCTV footage on our network and Revenue Protection Officers who are deployed on the bus network do not view CCTV footage. We work in collaboration with Bus Operating Companies and provide guidance to bus drivers in relation to fare evasion through the Big Red Book. Bus drivers are able to report incidents of fare evasion through an SMS reporting system which supports the deployment of enforcement teams on the bus network.
How many passengers have been found by revenue protection officers to have evaded fares?
The table below shows the total number of Penalty Fares and Irregularity Reports across modes during 2022/23 to suggest how many evaded journeys have been intercepted by enforcement.
Penalty Fare and Irregularity Report Counts 2022/23
Mode
Sum of PF Counts
Sum of Irregularity Report Counts
Buses
13437
6621
DLR
4196
978
Elizabeth Line
10746
2925
London Overground
6460
3916
London Underground
10210
4163
Trams
9106
No IRs on Trams
Grand Total
54155
18603
How many passengers has TFL prosecuted for fare evasion?
In the financial year 2022/23 - 16,144
How many of these were successfully prosecuted and how much fines were received?
In the financial year 2022/23, 15,828 were successfully prosecuted. Costs and Compensation awarded to TfL by the Magistrates is shown in the table below.
FY 2022/23
Retained by HMCTS
Awarded to TfL
Prosecutions
Fines
Victim Surcharge
Costs
Compensation
15,828
£2,777,196
£856,701
£3,502,522
£547,403
Avg Fine
Avg VS
Avg Costs
Avg Comp
£178
£54
£221
£34.58
Fines and victim surcharge are retained by HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
We receive compensation (for fares avoided) and a contribution towards our prosecution costs.
What is TFL actually doing to reduce the unacceptable levels of fare evasion to also reduce its funding gap?
We take fare evasion extremely seriously and our team of 450 revenue inspectors operate across our network day and night, using new technology and intelligence to identify anyone travelling without the correct ticket or payment for the journey they are making. We penalise and prosecute thousands of fare evaders every year, and we push for the toughest penalties for anyone caught fare evading on our services. Fare evasion takes away vital revenue for us to reinvest in our transport network to keep London moving.
We have a multi-pronged strategy in place to reduce the risk of fare evasion and have set a target to bring the level of fare evasion below 1.5%. Our strategy includes elements of ticketing technology and gateline information to deter and detect fare evaders. Our station staff provide insight and information about fare evaders and persistent offenders to our enforcement and investigations teams to take action. We deploy enforcement teams to locations where people push through gates and create an intimidating atmosphere for gateline staff and customers. Efforts to tackle fare evasion have been helped by changes to the way we manage our stations, with more staff visible in and around stations including on gate lines. Fare evasion is a criminal offence that could lead to a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record.
I have the following further questions : For say the last 12 months, and more readily available periods to enable trends to be seen:
How many occasions have bus drivers reported passengers traveling without paying. Can this be provided by bus route?
The total for FY 2022/23 was 3,594,959. To break this data down by bus route this would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
How many occasions have bus drivers been disciplined/ warned for letting passengers travel. Can this be provided by bus route?
TfL does not hold this information.
How many occasions have station staff reported gateline breaches. Can this be provided by station?
Total number of reports for LU Revenue Dispute 22/23 for all stations is 551,385. This information, at station level, is exempt from disclosure under section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act, which can apply where release of information would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime, or to prejudice the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This is because the release of this information (or similar information in relation to other areas) would reveal locations where enforcement activity is less likely to be implemented and may therefore encourage people to attempt fare evasion at those locations. Whilst we make no suggestion that you would use this information for anything other than your own interest, the disclosure of information under FOI is regarded as a disclosure to the public at large.
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the ‘public interest test’ to determine whether the greater public interest rests in the exemption applying and the information being withheld, or in releasing it in any event. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities and the fact that you have requested the information is in itself an argument for release. However, in this instance we feel that balance of public interest lies in favour of withholding the information to help protect our fare revenue.
What measures are there to test the effectiveness of intelligence led deployment processes for revenue protection?
We conduct a monthly performance meeting for revenue enforcement whereby activity is compared with output in order to determine best practice, challenge areas and success. We also conduct a monthly intelligence-led tasking meeting where analysis informs our recommended patrols for Bus and London Underground specific to revenue challenges amongst other challenge areas.
How is the effectiveness of tfl revenue protection measured, such as cost benefit, over say the last 3 years ?
Through our Pan-TfL Revenue Protection Programme (RPP) we have a comprehensive programme covering design, ticketing policy, communications, behaviour change, operations, assessment, and evaluation which is informed by data and evidence of what works. The RPP delivered a total end of year (2022/23) revenue benefit and loss avoidance of £13.8m.
If this is not the information you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal. Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
