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Swedish Fare Dodgers Organize Against Transportation Authorities

Posted by samzenpus on from the I-will-not-pay dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Every transit network has its fare beaters, the riders who view payment as either optional or prohibitively expensive. Many cities, most notably New York, view turnstile-jumpers as a top policing priority, reasoning that scofflaws might graduate to more serious crimes if left alone. But in Stockholm, the offenders seem to have defeated the system. From the article: 'For over a decade, Mr. Tengblad has belonged to a group known as Planka.nu (rough translation: “free-ride.now”), an organization with only two prerequisites for admission: Members must pay a monthly fee of about $15 and, as part of a continuous demonstration against the fare, promise to evade payment every time they ride. If travelers keep their side of the agreement, the group will cover any of the roughly $180 fines that might result. (An unlimited ride pass for 30 days costs about $120.)'"

6 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. Easy to fix by WhiteZook · · Score: 5, Interesting
    1. 1. The authorities should sign up their own staff, and issue them fake fines (1-2 per month).
    2. 2. Send the fake fines to Planka.nu
    3. 3. Collect underpants
    4. 4. Get reimbursed for hundreds of dollars, while only paying $15 a month: profit!
    1. Re:Easy to fix by NilleKopparmynt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That is a very good idea! But as a person who travels using the Stockholm public transport every day I must add that the problem is far bigger than just "planka.nu". It is effectively free to use the public transport in Stockholm. I see at least five different ways people avoid paying. 1. Planka.nu who simply says that they are not going to pay and know that the lonely conductor (on the trams) is not going to do anything. 2. Middle eastern immigrants in groups that just says fuck off! 3. Swedes that comes with strange excuses like "oh, i forgot but I am just going one station". 4. Nervous Swedes that jumps in and out of the tram depending on where the conductor is. 5. Immigrants who just shake their head when the ticket checker arrives.

      I have traveled with the tram to and from work in Stockholm for almost three years now and I have so far yet to see the first fine handed out. The problem with this is that people like me who pay properly are such fucking losers. I assume that the economic reality will catch up with this sooner or later.

      Sweden is full of idiots like this. The worst organization is not "planka.nu" but "allt åt alla" (everything to everyone). They think that all the tax money collected should be handed out to anyone who needs money. It is obvious that they aim to receive money and have no ambition to contribute. Basically a modern version of a cargo cult

      The great Swedish welfare state is dead. We do not have a working military anymore which makes even the Estonian president to complain. The healthcare is the same. It exists but not for everyone no matter how much tax you pay. Sweden has the fewest hospital beds per 1000 people in Europe. A 27 year old Swede can look forward to 40% of the salary as a pension. A Greek 120%. The School is falling in the PISA statistics. All can be found in different OECD reports.

      I am soon emigrating. I am not paying anymore.

  2. Re:In the US the people running the organization by mark_reh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Taking advantage of loop-holes is perfectly legal and extremely American. We have always been about following the letter but not the intent of the law which is why we're still arguing about guns, abortion, and grazing fees on federal land. Mitt Romney takes advantage of loop-holes in tax laws to hide his money from US taxes by shuffling it around shell corporations in the Cayman islands. Mitt pays accountants and lawyers to set all that stuff up. The whole reason the US produces so many lawyers is to help rich people and corporations walk right up the the often fuzzy line between what is legal and what isn't.

    Taking advantage of loop-holes is not the same thing as breaking laws. The people in Sweden are breaking laws by not paying for tickets to ride mass transit. The group that is encouraging and assisting them to break the law is no different that any other organized criminal gang. Now that they've invented/discovered the advantage of organizing criminal activity (duh!), I wonder what business they might get into next. I hear there's a lot of money to be made in drugs and prostitution.

  3. Thiefs think others should pay by aliquis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Thiefs think others should pay, news at 11.

    I'm from Sweden and well aware of the idiots who think they have the right to pay when others do pay.

    They simply suck.

    I wish they all got caught and I wish everyone reported these idiots when they saw them.

    I still hate that I didn't when I saw someone jump in the back of the bus once here in Örebro.

    (Supposedly the immigrants in an immigrant dence part of the town have been doing this / (possibly threatening / ignoring the bus driver) here too.)

    Ass-holes, nothing to brag about. Shouldn't any idiot understand that everyone should contribute to the society to get the benefits out from it?

    You're free to believe that the fares should be free but not paying isn't the way to make it so. Do it politically and pay through taxes (most of these idiots are likely youths or leftish individuals who don't work anyway) and also realize that demand on transports would increase if everyone could travel for free.

  4. Re:Insurance by BasilBrush · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Singapore on the other hand, has a consistent and well-enforced policy: sell drugs, you get executed. Note that drug usage in SG is near zero.

    How do you know? An alternative theory is that the penalty just makes those that disobey the law more careful.

    For a tiny city state, it seems to have an awfully busy Narcotics Bureau, with many sizable drug trafficker incidents.
    http://www.cnb.gov.sg/newsroom...

    That's not near zero.

    In any country, the number caught is a fraction of the number that are not caught. It's quite likely that the fraction is even lower in Singapore as dealers take more care.

  5. Re:Insurance by sir-gold · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is a certain addictive feeling that comes with stealing (or breaking the law, or simply lying habitually) and getting away with it. Similar to a "runner's high", but with less running.
    As with any drug, repeated exposure builds tolerance, doubly-so for a "drug" created by a stressful situation that isn't as stressful the second time around.
    This is why people who are addicted to "getting away with it" feel the need to escalate to bigger and bigger risks, in order to chase that same high.

    This is why Sweden doesn't want people to get "addicted" to fare jumping, they are afraid that it might escalate into something more