I have no problem with the presence of ticket inspectors – aka “authorised officers” – on our public transport. In fact, I’d like to see more of them, because compliance on trams and buses seems quite low, judging by the number of people who make no effort to “touch on”. Perhaps they have their reasons, such as some sort of pass, but I must admit that I have my suspicions. Yet I can’t remember the last time I saw mykis being inspected on a tram, and I’ve never seen it happen on a bus.
However, I was on a train recently, and the team of three came through to inspect myki cards. So, even if inspections had been paused during the Covid-19 lockdowns, it seems that they’re happening again.
And yes, they queried a person a few rows away from us. From what I could hear, she was travelling on a concession card, stating she was a student. She probably was, although she looked older than the typical student (I wonder if she was full-time, as is required), and she didn’t have the necessary student ID from her educational institution. The AO patiently and carefully explained the situation to her. There wasn’t the slightest element of being judgemental or of “gotcha”. I was impressed with his attitude and demeanour. In fact, I thought that he wasn’t going to “book” her, but it turns out that most of the “chat” was aimed at finding out the information he needed to get the infringement process going. As we were getting off, it appeared that she was being handed a copy of the report.
Musings and Mutterings 