Request ID: FOI-2045-2324 Date published: 10 October 2023
You asked
How much money estimated fare evasion costs to TfL? Please provide numbers for the following years: 2013, 2014, 2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 (up to now).
Please send the information in email, or excel format.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2045-2324
Thank you for your request received on 13 September 2023 asking for information about fare evasion.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked: How much money estimated fare evasion costs to TfL? Please provide numbers for the following years: 2013, 2014, 2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 (up to now). 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 enabling them 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. Our advice to our staff is not to challenge fare evaders if there is a risk of work-related violence, but to report incidents and that information is acted on by police and our enforcement teams. Fare evasion is a criminal offence that could lead to a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record. Last year there were over 18,000 offences reported by our revenue teams for possible prosecution. We remain committed to understanding the impact of fare evasion and continuously seek to broaden our analytical capability to best inform our strategic and tactical response. Information on the estimated fare evasion rates for 2018/19 and 2019/20 (up to December 2019) was provided in a previous FOI response. Please note that different methods are used to estimate fare evasion rates in each mode. We would therefore caution against making direct comparisons between the respective figures. We do not hold fare evasion data for mainline trains. https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-2734-1920 There has been no analysis of fare evasion since the pandemic until the year 2022/23 where it is estimated to be circa £130m at a rate collectively across bus, train and trams of 3.9%. Information for 2022 and 2023 (to August) was provided in our previous FOI response: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-1566-2324 Prior to 2018/19 collective cost analysis was not conducted as each mode was responsible for calculating the rate of fare evasion. To provide the same analysis for the other years 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 a request 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described. We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. As your request goes back ten years it is unlikely that we would hold information that far back, however we would have to consult several teams that will have likely gone through several organisational changes in order to determine this. To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a FOI Act request in future, please bear in mind that the FOI Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request. Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request. If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
