Today, the Victorian government announced that they will scrap the $75 on-the-spot fines for commuters without a valid Myki.
In news that will surprise no one, a recent review by the Victorian government into the state's fare evasion penalty regime has found that the $75 on-the-spot fines are doing nothing to stop "high-risk fare evaders". In fact, the report found that "the current system is inequitable, unfair and actually encourages fair evasion". It makes sense: not only do the $75 fines never go on the fare evader's record; you could also be caught 20 times in a year and still pay less than if you'd purchased a full fare zone one-and-two yearly pass.
This system has been controversial from the beginning. The report outlines the fact that authorised officers frequently incorrectly informed passengers that they would have no right to contest the fine if they chose to pay on the spot. What's more, people who did not have the funds to pay on the spot were then faced with the $223 fine in the mail. Back in December, there were so many challenges to Myki fines that the Magistrates Court was drowning in more than 40,000 cases – the majority of which were successful.
This new regime, which comes into effect on January 1 2017, has the full support of Jacinta Allan, minister for public transport. "The system we inhereted from the former Liberal government is confusing, unfair and inequitable," she explains. "It penalises and intimidates the most vulnerable while providing an incentive to travel without a ticket."
You can read the full report here.