In Saratov transport, the number of stowaways is growing

Every week, employees of the city transport committee of Saratov write out more than a hundred fines. Now for a trip without a ticket will have to pay 500 rubles, but the regional Ministry of transport wants to tighten the screws: it is planned to raise the amount five times — up to 2500 rubles. The leader in the severity of punishment for stowaways in the PFD is Nizhny Novgorod: there the fine is 1000 rubles. In neighboring Samara and Orenburg, the legislation is still softer - sanctions do not exceed 500 rubles.

In one week in mid-September in Saratov caught 107 fans to ride for free, this October 17 reported the city hall. Checkers came with raids on popular routes - buses No. 6A, 8B, 11A, 18A, 41A, 90A, working on gross contracts, as well as in trams

3 and 9D. On October 10, 116 cases of stowaways were revealed during public transport checks. Administrative cases were opened for all violations, the administration reported. The mayor’s office stressed that unpaid travel directly harms the work of carriers: due to falling income, the quality of passenger service decreases. Note that in autumn the number of “hares” in the Saratov buses and trams increased. In August, controllers fined 70-80 stowaways weekly.

In mid-October, it became known that in the Saratov region fines for all participants of passenger transportation, including stowaways, may increase significantly. At a meeting of the relevant committee of the regional Duma on October 14, the Minister of Transport of the region Nikolai Sergeev said that the current sanctions for ticketless travel and violations during the transportation of luggage have exhausted their effectiveness. The new bill proposes to seriously tighten responsibility. Most of all, the new sanctions will hit the wallet of passengers: for a ticketless trip you will have to pay 2.5 thousand instead of 500 rubles, and for unpaid hand luggage - 2 thousand instead of 300. At the same time, answering the questions of parliamentarians, the head of the department could not convincingly justify such a sharp increase in fines for hares.

The proposed measures will also affect carriers operating at unregulated tariffs. For example, for technical failures – whether it is a broken air conditioner, a broken scoreboard or problems with non-cash payment – officials will have to pay from 10 to 12 thousand rubles. instead of the previous 5-7 thousand. The deputies planned to consider the new bill at the next meeting of the regional Duma, but for some reason, the consideration was postponed.

The number of stowaways in Saratov will continue to grow as passengers see the ineffectiveness of the current control system, said Deputy Viktor Markov, a member of the Committee on Urban Economy, Urban Planning, Architecture, Transport, Communications and Trade of the Saratov City Duma. According to him, the staff of controllers is critically small for the size of the city. Even if the inspectors catch a hundred violators, in reality there can be thousands. As a result, passengers travel on new buses at cheap fares, but do not pay the fare. If earlier, under private contracts, a carrier was responsible for the route, who was vitally interested in every penny, today the situation is different.

- In terms of gross contracts, the main beneficiary is the city budget, which does not have enough resources for total control, explains Markov. Solving the problem requires an integrated approach. Revision of fines is possible, but you should act smoothly, avoiding sharp jumps like a five-fold increase. Excessive tightening of sanctions without a well-established system of administration will not bring results - an illustrative example of traffic violators who do not stop even the most severe punishments.