To fight against fraud, the RATP envisages more expensive 20 euros fines and more controls in the trams – Liberation
The RATP presented its plan this Friday, March 28, to combat fraud this Friday, which represents several hundred millions of euros of shortfalls each year on its network. Inside, around twenty measures, including increase in the price of fines.
The company says it lists 1.7 million offenses per year on its network, with a very variable fraud rate depending on the mode of transport. This rate is only about 5 % of users on the rail network (metro and RER), be « Quite close to the contractual objectives » Fixed by the Regional Authority for Transport Organizing Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), according to RATP spokesperson Jimmy Brun. On the other hand, it reached 15 % in buses and 16 % in tramways in 2023.
To cope, the president of IDFM, Valérie Pécresse, asked operators in mid-February to deploy a plan to fight fraud with the aim of dividing it by two by the end of the year. As a reminder, since the arrival of the Republican at the head of the region in 2015, the Navigo Pass increased by 26.7 %, when it had promised to maintain it during its campaign.
According to estimates in the region, fraud throughout Ile-de-France represents 700 million euros in recipe losses every year. The RATP therefore wishes to increase fines by 20 euros to make them more dissuasive. Currently, the fine amounts to 50 euros if it is settled immediately, well below the world average which is $ 116, according to RATP figures. The fine for lack of a transport title would drop to 70 euros in the event of a settlement and 120 euros deferred. The RATP first wants to obtain the agreement of its IDFM principal to validate the measure.
Since February, the RATP has carried out 200 continuous control operations where fraud is particularly important. « In this context, we have controlled 60,000 travelers and drawn up 6,300 fines »said Jimmy Brun. RATP will intensify these « Punch operations »especially on the tram network, by increasing « Significantly the number of controllers » With the doubling of the workforce in three years. On the rail network, the public operator plans to increase « gradually » of 50 % the workforce which is currently 1,000 Control agentsincluding between 400 and 600 deployed every day on the lines.
RATP also studies the idea of using artificial intelligence with programmed cameras to detect illegal portico crossing. They would send a message to the security post which could immediately dispatch a team to verbalize the resurrers, on the model of what exists in Barcelona, said the RATP. It will be necessary to obtain the agreement of the legislator to launch the experiment, has nuanced the management.
