Calgarians are an honest bunch.
At least that’s what Calgary Transit’s annual fare compliance study shows.
The two week study was conducted between Oct. 19 and Nov. 1. Peace officers toured the CTrain lines asking customers for proof of fare payment.
Of the 45,248 people checked, only 786 were unable to show a ticket or a pass, which means an all-time high of 98.3 per cent of passengers were purchasing tickets.
“Having a low of 1.7 per cent of customers evading fares is statistically significant because it tells us that Calgarians are honest,” said Supt. Brian Whitelaw, who heads Calgary Transit’s public safety and enforcement section, in a news release.
“There isn’t any one thing we can credit for the improved compliance other than it shows the vast majority of customers are honouring our fare system and paying their way. Our peace officers are also very visible. We have more peace officers and they do a good job checking for paid fares.”
Fare evasion averaged about 3.6 per cent between 2009 and 2014. Every day about 325,000 people use the CTrain.
