Over 1 million fare evasion tickets on Swiss public transport "The high number is due to the zero tolerance of ticket inspectors"

In 2024, over one million fare evasion tickets were registered on public transport in Switzerland for the first time. Fraud or a trivial offense? The opinions of blue News readers are divided.

The seat at the door is particularly popular with fare dodgers - depending on the situation, it is easier to escape an impending check there.

Never before have there been so many fare dodgers in Switzerland as last year: over one million people were caught on public transport without a valid ticket.

That's ten percent more than in the previous year, as the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper writes. In the past five years, the number of fare dodgers has more than doubled.

Fare dodgers are repeat offenders

Over one million fare dodgers, with different reasons for their behavior: Forgetfulness or convenience, stinginess or poverty, political protest or sporting ambition.

Whatever the reason, ticket inspectors are not indifferent to fare dodgers. Every day on public transport, they try to catch as many people as possible without a ticket.

Until the game starts all over again the next morning. Only it's not a game: the loss of revenue for Swiss public transport operators is estimated at 200 million francs a year.

200 million francs lossMore fare dodgers than ever before - public transport operator cracks down

What is striking is that there are many repeat offenders. Almost half of fare dodgers in Switzerland have made three or more journeys without a ticket.

Get on, drive off, fare dodging - whether out of thoughtlessness, thrill or lack of money. A striking number of Swiss people consider fare dodging to be a trivial offense.

This also becomes clear during the blue News survey at Bellevue in Zurich and in Volketswil ZH - as the video above shows.

"Fare dodging is not cool"

The opinions of blue News readers on the subject of "fare dodging" vary widely.

Reader "DS5610" writes: "The high number of fare dodgers also has to do with the zero tolerance of ticket inspectors. If you rush onto the train, sit down and the train starts moving at that moment, you have already lost and are a fare dodger because you can no longer buy a ticket. Pure harassment!"

"Recently on the Thurbo in eastern Switzerland, an elderly, frail gentleman was told that his ticket had expired half an hour ago and to show his ID," writes user "username".

And further: "The old man tried in vain to explain that he had bought his ticket well in advance because there are often lots of people at the ticket machines and he would definitely have one. Not a chance."

Reader "Steibommot25", on the other hand, has no sympathy for fare dodgers: "There is simply a lack of social solidarity. It seems to be cool for young people to cheat. But it's not cool."

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