Fare evasion

Inspections are being increased on buses and trolley-buses in an attempt by the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) to boost revenues as transport authority data suggest that one in 20 people commute without a ticket.
Similar inspections are also being stepped up at Athens metro and ISAP electric railway stations to crack down on fare dodgers.

In response to the increasing number of commuter complaints over the new electronic ticketing system for public transport in the capital, the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) has decided to commission a study in a bid to help improve the situation.

Beneficiaries of a 50-percent reduction on public transport, like students and over-65s, have another week to obtain a personalized travel card as the Athens transport authority (OASA) tries to phase out the widespread use of non-personalized tickets non-beneficiaries.

The Greek capital's public transport operator OASA announced a 12.12 percent increase in revenues in July, when measures went into effect as part of a crackdown on fare dodging on buses, the Athens metro and the ISAP electric railway.

These measures included a ban on passengers boarding buses via the back door as well as the activation of ticket barriers at metro and ISAP stations.

Transport authorities are set to hire 160 staff for a new body of inspectors tasked with tackling fare dodging on buses and trolley buses in the Greek capital.

A new initiative launched on Monday which only allows passengers to get onto buses and trolley buses via the front door in a bid to crack down on fare evasion prompted protests from many drivers, who said it increases pressure on them.

There was panic on Tuesday at the Ambelokipi metro station after fare-dodging commuters were trapped due to the activation of ticket barriers. 

Electronic barriers are operating at less than half of all Athens metro stations several months after the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) had aimed to have its e-ticket system fully operational throughout the network to combat extensive fare dodging.

Many commuters seemed to balk at the sight of closed ticket barriers at Syntagma metro station, the capital's busiest, on Monday, where barriers leading to the platforms were activated from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the first time.

The Ministry of Transport missed another deadline on Thursday in the schedule of its initiative to crack down on fare dodging on the capital's metro and ISAP electric railway, and is now aiming to have all of the system's electronic barriers functioning by the end of March.