Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pay your fare!


You might think this photo is of our friend Mihir who was visiting from San Francisco. The reason I took the photo though was to remember the group of transit police behind him (look for the glare of my flash on their jackets). At one of the stops, 6 transit police boarded the tram and went through the cabin asking everyone for proof of a paid fare. They found 1 English speaking fare evader who claimed ignorance, but they still presented him with a 40 Euro fine. Afterwards they all went to the back of the tram and had a little conference together for about 5 minutes.

It seemed like a lot of manpower for 1 fare evader - especially as there are conductors at each of the 2 entrances to the tram who ask to see your fare card when you board. Doesn't make much sense to me, but maybe fare evasion is a big deal here and they have to keep people on their toes.

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