Shaman the outlaw - I got into trouble today.

same sort of thing happened to me. i got off the train at my home town, and found that all of the passengers were being checked by officers for train tickets. now, i didn't have a ticket, but i could have thrown the ticket in the bin on the platform for all they knew.

i told them this, but they wouldn't let me go back up to the platform and 'get' the ticket (i would have jumped over the fence if they had). i ended up having to pay a fine, and when i refused to pay, sticking to my story that i had binned the ticket, they then doubled the fucking fine.

i was forced to pay, seeing as they threatened to prosecute me for fare evasion, giving me a criminal record and a fine of up to a grand if convicted. i was pretty pissed off.

When I go to work in the morning (7:00 AM Bus) I always just walk on. Always. Sometimes I'll drop some small change (10-25 cents) into the machine, but usually I just stroll on and sit my ass down near the back.

The bus driver (it's always the same guy) doesn't seem to mind, as I only ever use the bus then, and take the hour-long walk home to stretch my legs.

well good luck.......

MA: You have to pay the fine on the spot? That's hella dodgy.

I've been riding public transport with a concession ticket despite my concession card having expired. Partially because I don't want to pay more money and partly because I don't want to have to buy a new Myki (think: Oyster/Octopus/RFID dealy) card when I might be eligible for the concession again next year. I've been fine because most of my trips have been on trams and the few occassions I go on trains I just find the station exit/entrance with the most innattentive-looking inspector.

I had a close call on a tram a few weeks ago, though, when inspectors suddenly appeared and stopped me getting off. Thankfully, they just checked that the card had been activated and didn't bother asking for proof of concession.

I'm never checked. I still always pay, though. I feel much better when they're the crooks.

I met a group of friends at my local shopping complex the other week. After several hours of wandering and a lite lunch, we parted.

I decided I'd catch the bus home. My friends waited for my bus with me, as mine was first. After my bus arrived, I stepped aboard and realised that I'd left my ticket at home. Luckily, I just had enough money to buy a ticket.

I managed to drop one of the coins. It dissapeared. Gone. Never seen again. Because I was shifty looking that day, the bus driver quickly became impatient with my searchings and sent me on my way. I assume he thought I was looking for loose change.

It's only a 10 mins walk, so I wouldn't have complained any other day. Any other day I wouldn't have to face my friends afterwards. I was laughed at untill I fled.

I'm with the BM school of thought on this.

I spent £35 on train tickets getting to and from London for Oddtour 4B. Normally on British trains there'll be a guy who walks through the train a few times per journey checking tickets but on the three trains I got that day, it didn't happen once, so basically I could have gotten away with doing the whole journey, which would have cost me more than £50 if I hadn't had a railcard, for free.
Even though I wouldn't get a train without buying the ticket, it was really annoying knowing I could have done, especially since I'm dirt poor right now and I have no idea how I'm going to buy all of my large family Christmas presents.

If you hadn't bought a ticked, a man would have checked.

In the words of Abe: "Well, then what happened?"

i was given a fine on the spot and told i had a number of days to pay it, but i wasn't allowed to pay it there and then. when i didn't pay anyway, it escalated, doubled and pissed me off. i've still got the letters.

Are you sure there were bins on the station? I know a lot of stations where they have no bins, and stopping people throwing away their tickets too soon (or catching out people who said they threw their ticket away too soon) might be why.

One time i lost an expensive ticket boarding the train. The inspector came by and I was looking everywhere for it, but I think he recognised genuine panic, 'cus he decided to let me off. I was a few years ago when I was a wee newblet and the first time I wasn't able to present a ticket; some things you can't act

Anyone who throws out their ticket before they've left the station is an idiot. If I were a ticket inspector, I would never accept it as an excuse.

yes, i'm sure. there were bins. there still are.

that's funny. i thought the person who decided to put bins on the platform in the first place would have been the idiot. if they don't want people to throw away their tickets once they leave the train, they should put the bins outside the station. simple. if you see a bin and have left the train with no ticket inspectors in sight, what the fuck else are you going to do?

Or maybe they want people to be able to throw out their chocolate bar wrappers and disposable coffee cups rather than just dropping them on to the platform?

Bins have more uses than throwing out tickets, you know.

W311 1f u 637 c@u67 17'5 ur 0wn fUcK1n6 f@u17.

oh god. i'm so, so sorry. i didn't know that binning your then completely useless ticket on the platform once you left the fucking train was strictly forbidden. if they want to check if you've got a ticket, do it where they can be seen. that way people would then know to keep hold of their ticket and anyone trying to get a free ride wouldn't have any excuses.

if they're going to put bins on a platform, they should be prepared for people to throw away their ticket once its of no more use.

jesus christ.

Except that by your own example you have proven that the ticket isn't useless until you have completely left the train station.

that still doesn't cancel out my point that ticket inspectors should be in plain sight of passengers leaving the train. that way the passengers know to keep hold of their ticket until they have left the station, and then if they do come across someone who has no ticket, they know for definite that they did not purchase one. there's no doubt in anyone's mind and they have no excuses.

the fact remains that there are, has been and always will be people who throw away their ticket on the platform without the thought of ticket inspectors even crossing their mind. all the more reason they should be where you can see them.

throwing your ticket in the bin provided on the platform only to find ticket inspectors hiding around the corner isn't idiotic. its unfortunate and unfair. inspectors shouldn't hide from the passengers just so they can try and catch them out; there's no need. if anything, they're likely to wrongly fine someone for fare evasion who actually bought a damn ticket anyway and simply binned it moments previous.

I concede this point. I suppose it depends on the design of the station building though.

Why can't it be all three?

that's fine by me!