Shanghai subway to give fare dodgers a credit blacklist

All the citizen representatives at a hearing on the Shanghai subway applauded when they heard that fare dodgers would find that their next stop is a credit blacklist, which may hinder them in loan and job applications and receiving public welfare.

The Standing Committee of the Shanghai People’s Congress held a legislative hearing to seek public advice on a revised draft of regulations of subway management on Thursday.

All 16 representatives agreed that those who steal rides on the subway or falsely use others’ travel certificates or use fake IDs should have their details recorded in the public credit information system.

Residents of the municipality aged over 70 and the disabled are eligible for free rides on public transportation by presenting their certificates.

Around 7 million journeys are made on the Shanghai subway each day, and nearly 10,000 passengers stole rides daily in 2012, according to the Shanghai Transport and Port Authority.

“About 95 percent of the offenders jumped over the ticket machines or bent to get under, while the remainder used others’ certificates and forged documents,” said Zhou Huai, an inspector from the authority.

“The negative credit records are more than just fines and will practically impact offenders’ quality of life, which is good practice in the view of lawmaking,” said Jiang Dehai, a citizen representative and a political adviser in Songjiang district.

Qiu Zheng, another representative and a lecturer at East China University of Political Science and Law, suggested legally exposing the identities of severe offenders.

Records in the credit system are kept for seven years but Tang Xiaotian, a representative and deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Law Society, said, “The time limit for repeated offenders should be prolonged to work as a powerful deterrent.”

Representatives also said fines should be increased. The current fines have a ceiling of five times the fare, which equals 45 yuan ($7.4) at most.

“The amount accounts for only 1 percent of the monthly average income in Shanghai, which is too small to deter offenders. It should be 450 yuan at least,” said Li Jinquan, a representative who works for the taxation administration in Huangpu district.

“Some people argue passengers steal rides because of the high ticket price, which in my view is irrelevant,” said Jiang. The lowest price of a subway ticket is 3 yuan for a journey of no longer than 6 kilometers.

“A set price of 2 yuan is adopted for the subway in Beijing, but the number of freeloaders there is comparable to that of Shanghai,” he said.

The operation and management authority of the Shanghai subway launched its most rigorous crackdown against ticket dodgers on Monday. Eighty-eight fare dodgers were caught on the first day.

Workers from the authority are stationed at eight random subway stations during morning and evening rush hours each day to look for fare dodgers. The campaign will last till Sept 10.

The municipality has 12 subway lines and it is estimated that 8 million journeys will be made on the service each day in 2015, which will assume half of the public transportation capacity.