Swedish Group Offers Insurance for Public Transit Scofflaws

We shouldn't be (and note to our lawyers, aren't!) applauding clever modes of mass transit fare evasion, but you've got to give Swedish nonprofit Planka.nu props for their inventive, albeit illegal strategy for doing so.

It costs around $115 a month for a subway pass in Stockholm. But as the New York Times Magazine noted over the weekend, Planka.nu (which roughly translates to "free ride now") has been offering a $15 a month insurance plan that will pay the $175 fine for any policyholders who get caught not having paid their fare. Planka.nu has commuters' best interests at heart: they think public transit should be free. Swedish authorities beg to differ and have spent millions to replace those turnstiles with hop-resistant glass panels.