Burnaby Mayor says it’s too easy for fare evaders to cheat Translink

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan says he was not surprised when he heard there is a way to cheat Translink’s Compass Card system.

When the Compass Card comes into effect in 2014 users will be able to tap out in the middle of their journey to avoid paying extra zones.

Corrigan has been a tough critic of some of the changes made by Translink and today he spoke on BC1 about the faregates and the Compass Card.

“The idea that somehow you can avoid fare evasion by putting in a gated system really is quite ludicrous as it hasn’t been successful anywhere else, so why would it be successful here? he asks.

“And when we look in fact at the gate they built, anyone with any reasonable degree of athleticism can jump over those gates and at the same time people find new ways to be able to beat the system, and this is just one way we can expect the system to be beaten by fare evaders.”

Translink issued the following statement to Global News on Tuesday evening:

“There will continue to be some areas where fare evasion may be possible and will concentrate our additional system improvements and ongoing fare checks in these areas. We want people to know that if they cheat the system and are caught, we will fine them.”

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Corrigan thinks the real issue is a political one.

“They created a business case that is one of the most ridiculous I’ve ever seen in order to justify their decision, and then proceeded to couple Compass Cards and faregates to try to do what they were told to do. As a result the public has spent hundreds of millions of dollars unnecessarily in order to achieve what I think is a foolish result. They’re spending $20 million a year chasing after $5 million worth of evasion, which again is a waste of public money and I think is shameful.”

Corrigan tells BC1 that eventually, in his opinion, Translink will have to go back to the fare-checker system as people continue to scam the system.

He never thought the faregates were a good idea, and when it comes to the Compass Cards they will produce some valuable information but thinks they will not replace people checking fares.

He says the mayors are limited in their ability to have any real impact on the decisions made by Translink.

“We stand outside and criticize the decisions that are made but we don’t have any ability to change them,” he said.