How Dutch Transit Agencies Fend Off Fare Evaders

How can a public transit system avoid the hassle of dealing with fare evasion? So far, no universal solution has been provided for the issue of ticket dodgers—beyond, perhaps, abolishing fares entirely. Worldwide, transit agencies deploy a wide variety of ticketing enforcement mechanisms, from turnstiles to fare inspectors; each has their own unique vulnerabilities that enterprising scofflaws can exploit.

Over the past year, however, the Dutch have introduced some innovative new weapons to this age-old struggle. The Netherlands’ national rail carrier Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) has succeeded in reducing fare dodging and accompanying violence through a new approach: not by increasing inspections or ticket enforcement, but by simply barring any access at all to many stations for anyone without a ticket.