...... train ticket inspectors told to catch 28 fare dodgers a month

[whole diary]

[didcotdean]

Many regional ticketing arrangements in Germany are complex for those not familiar with them - timings, multiple use arrangements, zone boundaries etc. On longer distance routes they have learnt all about tickets valid only on one train.

[Tim]

Catching law breakers (or those who have made a mistake) should never be incentivised.

Agree with your general point.  But penalty fares sit in a strange legal limbo.  They are not a criminal fine but rather a civil penalty.  But they are accompanied by the scare tactics etc to make people think that they are a fine. 

I would prefer a system where all on-board staff were incentivised to sell tickets to passengers (not with targets but with a percentage margin on the ticket price), and (with appropriate exceptions for unstaffed stations, broken ticket machines etc) tickets were more expensive to buy on board because they include an "onboard purchase supplement" of say £5 each way or £15 on an intercity service"  The incentive would be there to "buy before you board" but the phycology would be different and the inspectors would have a far easier and calmer time of it because the person buying on board would see it as simply and foolishly having to buy a poor value ticket rather than being "caught and punished".   

Deliberate fare evasion (with intent proven to a criminal standard of evidence) would continue to be prosecuted as now, but not by private companies but rather public servants.     

I dislike the current system because it incentivises the ToCs to de-staff train.  My proposal would involve an on-board purchase supplement which would be enough to fund the ticketing staff continued presence on the train. 

[froome]

Catching law breakers (or those who have made a mistake) should never be incentivised.

Agree with your general point.  But penalty fares sit in a strange legal limbo.  They are not a criminal fine but rather a civil penalty.  But they are accompanied by the scare tactics etc to make people think that they are a fine. 

I would prefer a system where all on-board staff were incentivised to sell tickets to passengers (not with targets but with a percentage margin on the ticket price), and (with appropriate exceptions for unstaffed stations, broken ticket machines etc) tickets were more expensive to buy on board because they include an "onboard purchase supplement" of say £5 each way or £15 on an intercity service"  The incentive would be there to "buy before you board" but the phycology would be different and the inspectors would have a far easier and calmer time of it because the person buying on board would see it as simply and foolishly having to buy a poor value ticket rather than being "caught and punished".   

Deliberate fare evasion (with intent proven to a criminal standard of evidence) would continue to be prosecuted as now, but not by private companies but rather public servants.     

I dislike the current system because it incentivises the ToCs to de-staff train.  My proposal would involve an on-board purchase supplement which would be enough to fund the ticketing staff continued presence on the train. 

I thought this was already the case (but have no specific knowledge so may be wrong).

[IndustryInsider]

It is the case for some, but by no means all.

[PhilWakely]

I would prefer a system where all on-board staff were incentivised to sell tickets to passengers (not with targets but with a percentage margin on the ticket price)....

I have heard stories about a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ticket office that is generally staffed by a single person, where an ATE is provided during the morning peak 'to assist when there is a queue at the window' and in some cases (but by no means all!), the ATE stands in the entrance doorway and catches people as they enter the ticket office, thus actually taking more revenue than the person behind the window.

[TaplowGreen]

How about this as a compromise................don't set targets, but dress all ticket inspectors as Robocop, that'd be great! 

[LiskeardRich]

The target is roughly 0.35% of the estimated daily ticket checks. I think that sounds quite reasonable, as we are told statistically 1% is fare dodging.

Targets are standard practice in every job I've worked, and in most unless your lagging far behind your colleagues are left to the job. One former employer also asked questions if staff were far in front of colleagues as well.

[ellendune]

The target is roughly 0.35% of the estimated daily ticket checks. I think that sounds quite reasonable, as we are told statistically 1% is fare dodging.

Targets are standard practice in every job I've worked, and in most unless your lagging far behind your colleagues are left to the job. One former employer also asked questions if staff were far in front of colleagues as well.

I would be happy with targets for the number of tickets inspected - a high tech version of the ticket punch could easily count this. I still think it is wrong to incentivise penalties - this applies to traffic wardens (I mean local authority parking attendants) just as much as ticket inspectors on the railways.