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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.)'"

9 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. Insurance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's just an insurance scheme. With heavier penalties, it would not work.

    1. 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.

    2. 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

  2. In the US the people running the organization by mark_reh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    would be charged with criminal conspiracy.

  3. In other parts of the world... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is known as organized crime.

  4. Not heroes by JavaBear · · Score: 5, Insightful

    These people are parasites, and leeches, whose evasion is helping to drive UP the cost for everybody else.
    Public transportation is en expensive service, mostly subsidized through taxes, these hypocritical parasites help make it that much more expensive for everybody else.

    I hope the Swedish authorities take an idea that was floated when the same was about to happen in Denmark.

    The fines the "organization" pay, are to be treated as taxable income.

  5. 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!
  6. Re:Public transit by Zironic · · Score: 5, Informative

    The fine you get when you're caught dodging the fare is legally not a fine but a punitive ticket price(straffavgift). If you're caught by the police dodging the fare (Sometimes they stand around trying to catch criminals or illegal immigrants) then you get an actual fine (ordningsbot) which is actually not covered by planka.nu and can show up on your permanent record.

    Essentially it's important to understand that Sweden makes an extremely clear distinction between those that have the authority to handle criminal matters and those who do not, the metro does not.

  7. 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.