I received an unsatisfactory response to my request about how TFL plans to cut fare evasion and was informed all instances of fare evasion were reported on the WAASB iPad app. Please would you inform me of the statistic of fare evasion reported for the most recent reporting year, alongside numbers of successful prosecutions. I feel that this is an inadequate use of staff time (and therefore costs) and the money would be better put to use in upgrading barriers to prevent fare evasion.

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TfL Ref: FOI-3568-1819

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27^th March 2019 asking for information about fare evasion on TfL services.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.

Specifically you asked:

“Please would you inform me of the statistic of fare evasion reported for the most recent reporting year, alongside numbers of successful prosecutions. I feel that this is an inadequate use of staff time (and therefore costs) and the money would be better put to use in upgrading barriers to prevent fare evasion”.

The relevant figures for the financial year 2018/19 are as follows. Note that this encompasses all relevant TfL modes of transport except for trams, for which the information is not held (trams are operated under contract by a subsidiary of FirstGroup plc, which carries out its own revenue protection procedures):

Total Number of Penalty Fares (on the spot fines with no prosecution) issued = 87,319

Total Number of Irregularity Reports (where fare evasion is considered for prosecution) received = 37, 377

Total number of Irregularity Reports prosecuted = 26,164, with over 99% successful (26,159 of the total);

Income recovered from prosecutions (including costs and compensation) = £2,198,557.

Note that barriers at stations are just one of the many tools available to transport companies throughout the world to combat fare evasion. While barriers are used effectively on much of the TfL network, there are issues to consider in their use, such as in regard to health and safety, delaying running times, disability access, maintenance and costs. The installation of barriers at stations is therefore considered on a case by case basis, depending on the specific circumstances of the location.

We take fare evasion extremely seriously and our team of 450 revenue inspectors operate across the whole network day and night, using new technology and intelligence to identify anyone travelling without a ticket. Through continued partnership working with the police and intelligence gathering we will push for the toughest penalties for anyone caught fare evading on our services.

You may additionally be interested in the TfL “Revenue Enforcement and Prosecutions Policy” which can be found on our website here:

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecution-policy.pdf

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 as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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