11/13/2006

the poor had it (part 2)

The poor had it (part 2) In the first part I wrote about having to pay more when a commuter did not have the exact change. There is another ruling which many have forgotten but I am not sure whether it has been amended. This is related to bus cheats. There are bus cheats and there are careless or absent minded commuters. Some will deliberately forget to flash their EZ link cards, some exit early to pay less and some simply forget. Let's not discuss the cheats as they will have to pay a heavy fine, even jailed, if they are caught for cheating a few cents on bus fares. The moral of the story is to cheat more, in the millions, and in style, if one wishes to cheat. Then one can still be respected as a talent. Poor commuters should not try to cheat. Ok my point is that if a commuter forgets to flash his card on leaving the bus, he will be charged the full fare from depot to depot, I think. I am not too sure about this. But definitely more than the actual fare if he has flashed exit. So if he boards a bus at the second last depot, flashes the card in but forget to flash out, he may have to pay the fare from one end to the other, the maximum fare. In short, the commuter has to pay more. But he has the option of writing in or explaining to the transport operator, at some office in some corner of the island which would probably cost him more than the over charge if he bothers. Many don't bother as it is not only tedious and troublesome, but more costly. So the poor commuters will have to pay more for a mistake, or forgetfulness, with no intent to cheat. What happens when there is a system error or card reading error? I am twiddling my thumb. Who pays for the error?

No comments: