Another Example of Kevin Falcon's Incompetence

For the most part, we have nothing against fiscal conservatives, as long as they govern with competence.

Unfortunately, Kevin Falcon isn't one of them.

Aside from the stupidity of twinning the Port Mann Bridge ahead of building transit alternatives for the Fraser Valley, his latest plan to install turnstiles at Skytrain stations once again reveals his poor business acumen.

According to this article from the Vancouver Sun, Translink loses approximately $7 million each year from fare evaders, who account for "roughly" 8% of all riders. For its part, Translink estimates that it loses about 4.9% of revenues to evaders.

Falcon's solution? Spend $80 million to $120 million to erect turnstiles that will supposedly reduce this figure substantially.

There's no mention of the annual cost to maintain the new turnstiles, but there's a clear argument that the cost-benefit just isn't there, according to this article from the Sun:

To begin with, Translink estimates that turnstiles would help it to recover about $2.9 million per year in lost revenues. However, in addition to the $120 million cost of installing the turnstiles, there would be annual maintenance costs, along with the need to hire an estimated 400 attendants to assist passengers at every gate.

Assuming we pay each attendant just $35,000 per year - that adds up to $14 million alone. Maintenance of the machines would probably cost another $2 million to $3 million per year, so we wind up spending $17 million each year (plus $120 million to install the turnstiles) to save $3 million.

While such a move certainly makes for good populist politics (what upstanding transit rider isn't irritated by the freeloader next to him who isn't paying his fair share), it's plain to see that the expenditure isn't worth the effort.

The question is, why does the Minister of Transport - who should know better - not see this?

By the way, here's how we can save $120 million, and still reduce fair evasion:

Hire 50 station attendants, and put them at key, strategic stations during peak hours, or during evenings when there is a greater security need. (ie the busiest stations, such as Waterfront, Granville, New Westminster etc.)

Then, have them check each passenger's ticket or pass before they go up to the platform and board a train - passengers can quickly flash proof of payment on their way up the stairs. Those who don't have a ticket typically don't even bother trying. Spot checks can similarily be done upon exit at high-traffic stations.

Not only does this reduce the confrontational enforcement strategy that is currently in place, it ensures that fare evaders don't get very far at all. At the same time, it accomplishes the goal of better station security, which Falcon uses - as small-minded populists typically do - to justify the added expense.

It's too bad that Kevin Falcon wasn't more thorough in his research.

If he had travelled beyond London and Amsterdam, he would have seen that such a solution already works quite well in Budapest - a place where people have to be a lot smarter, given the resourcs that they have.

Comments

[Paul Hillsdon]

Of course TransLink isn't going for it - they don't have the money in the first place, nor has it ever passed the cost benefit analysis. Falcon isn't forking over provincial cash either.

He wants to pursue it as a P3, with a private corporation coming in and installing and operating the turnstiles. They would get a part of either fare evasion revenues, or regular transit fare revenues (it's not clear which). Very convoluted plan if you ask me, but that's what you get with a pro business politician.

[Brian Bailey]

I've lived in Tokyo, London and Toronto and travelled to New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Osaka, Taipei amongst other locales. All of these cities boast excellent transit systems including subways with turnstiles. I find Vancouver bizarre for not having a similar setup. First of all, it creates a better sense of safety and order for the paying customer. In Hong Kong you just wave your pre-paid Octopus card over a reader at the automatic gate and there's no delay whatsoever. Same thing when you exit the station. If you don't pay, you can't exit. Tolerating cheats was something that NYC eliminated years ago with a corresponding drop in all petty crime. Not tolerating petty crime has led to a much safer and more pleasant city. If they can do it so can we. What Vancouver has right now is embarassingly bush league by way of comparison. Spend away, long overdue.

[Geoff England]

The most ridiculous part of Falcon's 'research' is that he thinks Skytrain is on par with the London Underground or the Paris Metro. I live in London and another system in the city, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), is far more similar to Skytrain than the tube. The DLR has no turnstiles and is also fully-automated, but they employ an attendant on every train who regularly checks tickets. Evasion is low and customer satisfaction is the highest in London. DLR also uses a smart-card (as mentioned in the previous post) which would be a far better investment of $120m.

Someone needs to tell Falcon that Vancouver is not London, Paris, New York or any other major world city, and stupid ideas like this are a waste of time. Falcon needs to stop meddling in the regional affairs of the GVRD which is doing just fine without his incessant idiocy.

[Editor]

Having lived for several years in New York -turnstiles have been around for decades, long before the rise and fall of subway crime. Attendants were manning the booths during the 1970's and 80's, when crime was at its highest as well.

Thus, it wasn't turnstiles or attendants that solved the problem - it was better policing on the platforms and trains.

And despite going from tokens to electronic Metrocards, and erecting better barriers, there's still plenty of fare evasion going on - especially among poor families who typically pass their kids under the turnstiles.

[Brian Bailey]

OK , so based on the excellent comments above the best solution would be a combination of spending alot more money on policing (because the current policing is obviously not working) and an automated fare card system (Toronto will soon have the latter implemented, similar to the Octopus card in Hong Kong). Could you elaborate on how the DLR has an automated fare card without automatic turnstiles? In any event, the status quo in Vancouver is simply unacceptable. Doing nothing is not an option so spending millions will be necessary regardless of the solution chosen.

[Geoff England]

Just a quick reply regarding smartcards on the DLR...

The smartcard system works without turnstiles by just having a card reader at station entrances and exits. You swipe the card before you get on and again when you get off and it charges you the appropriate fare. If you forget to swipe out, it charges you the max fare at the end of the day. Ticket checkers on the trains use handheld readers to check that you've swiped in. If you have a monthly/yearly pass, you don't need to swipe at all.

Smart cards are pure genius, though from what I gather, they are VERY expensive to initiate and operate. The savings are huge though. They would definitely enable easy payment on the Skytrain, but smart cards would
have the biggest impact on the bus system. London stats show boarding times have decreased by 2/3 so buses can stick to their schedule. Translink would also benefit from the details stats the cards collect. This should be Translink's number 1 priority in my books.

[Brian Bailey]

That is an excellent suggestion regarding smart cards and the bus system. Vancouver is not a third world city so we should be able to come up with the cash. I want to live in a city with a vision for the future, not stuck in a baby boomer past.

[alkareger]

alkareger, http://hollywoodshoptilyoudrop.com/ - cheapest effexor These side effects will usually dissipate over time so that patients did not need to stop therapy. [url=http://hollywoodshoptilyoudrop.com/]generic effexor online[/url]

[casino en ligne]

One hardly knows where to start when commenting on stories like this. They really are just an extensiion of the same style of government by the Campbell Liberals. We’ve had ten years of corruption, all supported by the same people who are now practicing corruption. It sickens, but does not surprise me.