New law cracks down on VRE ticket fraud

Virginia lawmakers passed legislation last week that targets the use of fraudulent and non-validated tickets on Virginia Railway Express, and the measure awaits the governor's signature, VRE officials said Friday.

The measure would make it illegal for people to produce and use a fraudulent or counterfeit ticket on the commuter train service. Violators could be fined $500 or more and could face jail time. Riders who do not validate a ticket before boarding or who ride out of the ticket's designated zone could face a civil infraction and be fined up to $100.

VRE officials said they needed the new legislation because the existing policy makes it hard for VRE to charge those violating the law. Current law requires proof of "intent to defraud," which VRE officials said is nearly impossible to obtain.

The new legislation would take effect July 1 and remove that clause. It also would lower the penalty for not validating or for riding out of zone and would allow riders to prepay a ticket instead of going to court.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04575.html

I had read that MARC doesn't require tickets to be validated, so why VRE is so strict on validation I don't know

The law also wouldn't let them distinguish between someone trying to cheat them and someone forgetting to validate. It's about money.

If it isn't validated (or if it's faked from an original purchased ticket) you could buy a single-ride ticket and use it as many times as you want so long as it doesn't get inspected by the same conductor. Or you could claim that you bought it 3 months ago and just got around to using it on the day in question. For every person who buys a single-ride and doesn't validate but continues to ride, the train agency looses $5, or $10 or whatever every day it's used. If I bought a $5 ticket and used it for 10 days, that's $50 right there. Now imagine if 100 other people did that and for a longer amount of time...

Can someone explain how the VRE ticket process works? This validation thing confuses me. MARC just pulls tickets in the "normal" fashion - either you produce a valid pass for the time period (weekly or monthly), or the conductor lifts your ticket and gives you a punched stub. Sounds much simpler than whatever VRE does.

VRE uses a TVM (Ticket Vending Machine). You purchase and validate from these machines which are located on the platforms and are fully automated and contain no cash. If you purchase a single-ride (one way), round-trip (two-way), or 10-trip (10 two-way rides), you must validate your ticket before you board the train. Basically you insert your ticket into the TVM and the machine reads the magnetic strip on the back. The TVM stamps the ticket with information telling how many times it's been validated, where it was validated, the time, and how many rides are remaining on the ticket. So if you validate a single ride ticket, you'll get something along the lines of "01 Crystal City 4:55PM 3/18/2010 No Remaining Value". The TVM will place the new stamp under the old one(s) all the way down the face of the ticket in the event of multi-ride tickets (10 trip). If there's a problem with the machine, you show the conductor before you board the train. If he catches you on board without a validation and then you tell him, for all he knows you are trying to cheat the system and he will probably issue you a summons so can argue with a judge and not the crew.

5-trip tickets are not validated at all because there are set dates when the ticket is valid. If you buy a 5-trip, the ticket you receive will be good for unlimited rides for 5 consecutive days minus weekends and holidays.

The Free Ride Certificates (FRC) must also be validated. These are special tickets received by the crew or by the VRE office if the train is more than 30 minutes late. You can use your FRC for a future trip (it's good for all zones, Broad Run/Fredericksburg to Union Station). There's at least one conductor I know who will rip a validated FRC when checking tickets so there is no chance of using it again. You can only use it once and it will only validate once.

Monthly and MetroLink tickets are validated by your signature on the back of the ticket because they are also unlimited rides for a set amount of time. The single ride, two-way, 10-trip and FRC must be validated every time because those tickets generally expire 1 year from date of purchase (or on July 1 of the following year in the case of the FRC).

I was actually issued a summons when I was a new rider because I was riding on an incorrect ticket and didn't know any better. I asked questions, spoke with the VRE office, went to court, explained it to the judge, showed that I had validated but was just using the wrong kind of ticket (I was out of zone), and instead of a $150 fine, the maximum at that time, I paid 50 bucks and was on my way. The conductor who wrote me up is actually a good buddy now and he didn't even remember issuing it to me. Strictly business.

In short, MARC uses a traditional seat-check system, while VRE uses a version of proof-of-payment (POP). Here's the wikipedia article in the latter:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-payment.

Thanks for that - sounds like it's rife for fraud, but I guess with enough conductors checking and high enough penalties when you get caught that it works.

As a non-commuter but occasional VRE user, the current system is idiotic and impossible to figure out. Obviously somebody who uses it every day will have no problem, but anyone who would like to use the train rather than drive on a one-off basis will almost certainly botch it up.

MARC has the right plan: they are paying a conductor, make him earn his pay by walking around the train and punching tickets.

The VRE system reminds me of red-light cameras with the yellow set to two seconds - not intended as a way to enforce fairness, but rather "entrapment" designed for the express purpose of confusing good-faith users and then slamming them.

But then, maybe VRE thinks that their trains are full enough, and they aren't really concerned with income from occasional travelers.

I've run into the same system in Europe; it's every bit as bad there.

I agree that the VRE system is somewhat ridiculous, but only in the fact that you're issued a summons no questions asked if you don't have a validated ticket. Here are the problems with this type of system:

1. A court summons and $100 for something as simple as not having a valid ticket is nonsense, whether it was intentional or not. The conductor should simply kick you off the train at the next stop instead.

2. Not only do you have to have a ticket, it has to be "validated." So a new rider or tourist (common in the DC Area) who doesn't know this they're screwed. I mean, the mere fact that you have a ticket (even an unvalidated one) should be some proof that you're not trying to beat the system.

I remember the one time I took VRE I was even a little worried while waiting for the train, because I wasn't 100% sure whether my ticket was "validated" or not. I followed the instructions, but since the ticket (iirc) doesn't actually say "validated" I was still a little nervous.

3. You can only contest the charge in court. VRE instructs it's conductors to view everyone without a valid ticket as criminals and issue them a summons, so this would include the out-of-town family of 5 going on a day trip to tour DC.

4. You can't purchase tickets on the train. This is plain dumb. I don't think there's any other commuter railroad that doesn't let you purchase tickets on the train, for a fee. I've seen people do it frequently on MARC as well as LIRR and SEPTA. When I used to take the reverse flow Camden Line trains out of DC, there was always someone in my car who would buy a ticket, and the conductors would almost always waive the $3 fee. Even Amtrak allows passengers to buy tickets on their (non-reserved) trains. Of course this also means there's absolutely no way to get out of a summons. If conductors have time to write up a summons, I'm sure they have time to sell tickets.


This is not to say MARC doesn't have it's fair share of fraud. The very popular 10-trip tickets are no longer sold, because many passengers apparently covered the punch holes back up. Also, on the Brunswick Line the conductors always inspect everyone's monthly tickets at the beginning of each month and "validate" them by punching them because of supposed counterfiting issues. Still, they don't they don't use VRE's draconian measures to solve their problems, although the elmination of 10-trip tickets was kind of harsh.

realtype wrote: I don't think there's any other commuter railroad that doesn't let you purchase tickets on the train, for a fee.

There are a few, mostly the newer, western ones. I'm pretty sure ACE and Caltrain don't, and I believe there's others.

I don't have a problem with systems that don't sell tickets on the train, IF there's no conductor onboard. E.g. most metro systems, where once you're on the train, presumably you have gone through a gate to make sure you're properly ticketed. I think some British trains work this way too.

But if there is already a paid conductor on the train, like realtype says, if he's got time to write out a summons he's got time to write tickets. I hope some lawyer gets bagged by this and gets P.O.'ed enough to sue, to me it's entrapment on its face. Shame VRE will have to waste its money defending a case they should have had the brains and mother-wit to avoid in the first place with a little intelligence and fairness.

Having crew carry money just presents the opportunity for stupid people to try to exploit that was well. DC Metro is almost completely "plastic" now and only exact change is allowed if you catch the bus. No one carries cash on their person. I can also image on VRE that a person who sits and waits for the conductor to approach him asking for a ticket could then simply ask to buy one then. What happens fit they rode almost the whole line and purchased the ticket one stop away? VRE works on a zone system; further away from Union, more money for a ticket. Plus, we're talking about 3 conductors in charge of 1,000 people on an 8 car train. 2 conductors on a 6 car. Maybe 4 if they can get the 10 car worked out. A fare collector on a light rail or another system may work, but not in this case. I just don't see that happening.

As it is though, there is to an article published in the local paper about this tomorrow (Sunday). We'll see what's said in there. I don't think it's anything new, but it should make for an interesting read.

Not all conductors will blindly issue a summons. If they've never seen a person before and they know they are new, they may not right them up. But the bottom line is that it is absolutely unfair to have a conductor look at someone without a ticket and decide whether they are cheating the system or not. What happens if they issue a summons to a burly man and then the woman beside him just gets a warning because she "looks" like she didn't mean it? Where does that judgment end? That would almost certainly end up in a fist fight. There was a publication a couple of years ago with photos of six random people's faces and a caption along the lines of "Which one is telling the truth?" in regards to accidentally forgetting to validate their ticket. Either guess, which is inherently unfair, or treat them all equally and let the judge decide.

the-rail-life wrote:Having crew carry money just presents the opportunity for stupid people to try to exploit that was well. DC Metro is almost completely "plastic" now and only exact change is allowed if you catch the bus. No one carries cash on their person. I can also image on VRE that a person who sits and waits for the conductor to approach him asking for a ticket could then simply ask to buy one then. What happens fit they rode almost the whole line and purchased the ticket one stop away? VRE works on a zone system; further away from Union, more money for a ticket. Plus, we're talking about 3 conductors in charge of 1,000 people on an 8 car train. 2 conductors on a 6 car. Maybe 4 if they can get the 10 car worked out. A fare collector on a light rail or another system may work, but not in this case. I just don't see that happening.

There are always people out there who will try to beat the system, no matter what you do and I don't think making legitimate passengers suffer is really worth it. Most commuter rail systems (except for the few oknazevad pointed out) use the zone fare system that VRE uses, but still offer cash onboard. Even with VRE's system I'm sure it can still be exploited by riding beyond your zone. On MARC's Brunswick and Camden Line conductors (one for every other car) check tickets before you get on the train (except at the terminals), unlike the Penn Line, VRE, and many other CR lines. This makes things pretty simple--if you don't have a ticket you don't get on, or you buy one onboard. Still, unless the conductor remembers where you're supposed to get off, you can travel farther than your zone.

I'm not exactly sure how VRE fare collection works in terms of when they check tickets. On the Penn Line they do it at certain points along the trip iirc, although I once took a train between Union Station and New Carrollton and no conductor came to collect my ticket (which I did actually have ) although they did the other 2 times I took that trip.

Still, travelling further than your zone is probably very uncommon given that you'll have to purchase the correct ticket to return or try to cheat again, and since most commuters purchase multi-ride tickets it's very unlikely they would do this. I also doubt the average tourist/single trip person would try to exploit this given their lack of knowledge about the system and it really isn't the dollar or so it saves.

Selling tickets on trains is a must in my opinion. Once in a while there are times when the quicktrak ticket machines in a station aren't even working. In these cases MARC waives the $3 fee for buying onboard. I will agree that buying on board does have it's negatives. In addition to what you said, I'm sure conductors (on MARC anyway) aren't exactly thrilled with selling tickets since they have to complete a form and make change for each ticket, which takes some time (although that's what their paid for as some pointed out above). Also, just last year MARC limited onboard ticket purchasing to bills $20 or smaller, since they apparently were having problems with counterfeit notes. Still the convenience of it still far outweighs the negatives of the random (uncommon) moron trying to beat the system.

the-rail-life wrote:Not all conductors will blindly issue a summons...

I understand what you're saying here, and my argument is that they shouldn't have the summons thing in the first place so the conductor doesn't have to make that decision. A simple fine, or even better kicking the person off of the train, would be a more sensible alternative.

Most of the new-build system in the US over the past twenty years has been proof-of-payment. It's very simple: once you've hired the conductors to check tickets, you'll have a hard time getting rid of them. Some have succeeded (Caltrain), but most have stuck with the system that they already had. If you're a new-build system, you do not have political pressure to maintain employment.

The way that proof-of-payment is supposed to work is that fare inspection should be totally random. A random car on a random train is checked between two random stations. Might be the first two stations on the line, might be the last two, might be in the middle. If you can predict where the fare inspection will take place, then that substantially reduces the deterrence effect of POP.

In addition to lower labor costs, POP also counteracts casual fare avoidance near the terminal stations, where a determined fare evader can often pay for one ride out of every five, by watching conductor work patterns and habits. In a POP system, this cannot take place due to validation plus zero-tolerance. Validation causes tickets to be cancelled on use, even if the conductor never gets around to inspecting them. Zero-tolerance allows the fine to be set high enough to make it unprofitable to count on uninspected tickets. If the fine is 10x the cost of the ticket, the conductor just has to inspect 10% of the tickets.

Hybrid systems that combine turnstiles and POP are also being tried. Stricter scrutiny at high-volume stations allows conductors to spend their time inspecting tickets only when their train-operation workload (directing passengers, making announcements) is light.

Reading the VRE discussion transcript reminded me of another amazing problem with VRE tickets--you can't purchase them with cash, at all. The machines don't accept cash and you can't purchase them on the train. MARC's QuickTrak ticket machines don't accept cash either, but despite the closures last year there are still a number of stations that are staffed (including all the Amtrak stations) and of course you can still purchase tickets on the train with cash.

Apparently they're afraid that people will break into the machines (which is why there are no vending machines) which I highly doubt, given the area that VRE serves. If Metro-North, LIRR, and NJT can accept cash at ticket machines even in crime-ridden areas, I think VRE can. IMHO they need to overhaul the entire ticketing system to bring it in line with other commuter rail systems. To me, this is the biggest deficiency with VRE by far in an otherwise very customer-friendly commuter rail service.

Probably dates back to decisions that were made at the start of VRE service to work within a limited budget. Handling cash is expensive, from more complex vending machines to the time it takes employees to remove, transport, and count it. Much like other measures like platforms on only one track, there were trade offs between getting service running for what was available, versus providing every possible convenience.

At this point, despite on-board ticket sales by conductors and trainmen seeming normal to us in the northeast, is there anyplace aside from the legacy commuter railroads (MBTA, MN, LIRR, NJT, SEPTA, MARC, and Metra) that do traditional on-train sales? There's a lot of risk and potential loss in having all that cash circulating out there, I can't see any new agency wanting to introduce that into their system.