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# Face of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/face-of-the-day-1098/
- Published: 2024-11-17T17:30:39.000Z
- Updated: 2024-11-17T17:30:38.000Z
- Description: “We shouldn’t expect bus drivers to be responsible for dealing with fare dodgers. AT needs to take responsibility for a culture it has created that invites free riders to take advantage of the rest of us” – Parmar
- Author: Good Oil Staff
- Tags: Face of the Day

> Auckland-based ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar claims a “blind eye” is being turned to people who refuse to pay fares on public transport – and the practice, she says, is leading to violence and antisocial behaviour.  
>  
> However, Auckland Transport (AT) rejects the accusation of tacitly allowing a “travel-for-free” policy for fare dodgers.  
>  
> Attention is on public transport today as Paywave and other methods of contactless payment are being enabled across the city’s buses, trains and ferries from this morning – a first for any city in New Zealand.  
>  
> “Antisocial fare dodgers discourage Aucklanders from using public transport,” Parmar said. “They deprive AT of revenue and load costs onto rule-abiding ratepayers. They are threatening, stealing from, and assaulting bus drivers and passengers,” she said, in a media release.  
>  
> “In September, I met with a bus driver seriously assaulted by fare dodgers and relayed his concerns to AT. Since then, I have been told by a bus contractor that AT has been repeatedly warned that its lax policy on fare dodging is leading to violence. \[...\]  
>  
> “When we turn a blind eye to repeated fare-dodging, we send a message that rules – and basic respect – don’t matter. Is it any wonder this then leads to violence?”

[Read More](https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/11/17/fare-dodgers-on-auckland-buses-are-leading-to-violence-mp/?ref=goodoil.news)