Fare dodging costs Supertram around £1,700 a week, South Yorkshire mayor reveals
Fare dodgers are costing Supertram around £1,700 a week, South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard has revealed.
Mr Coppard quoted the figure – roughly one per cent of 170,000 journeys over an average week – during a Radio Sheffield phone in. The authority says there are two types of non-payment.
In some cases passengers are deliberately avoiding paying, however busy conductors are also often too busy time to reach them before they exit – therefore giving them a free ride.
Though the mayor’s one per cent figure is based on a combination of both types of non-payment South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) says those deliberately evading fares accounted for an average of less than 0.2 per cent - fewer than 200 passengers out of more than 170,000 journeys over an average week.
SYMCA says fare dodgers are now easier to track since it introduced handheld ticket machines, however the number of conductors has remained at similar levels since it took trams back under public control.
A SYMCA spokesperson said the number of people evading fares was “low” when compared to other tram and train networks across the country.
They added: “Following the decision to freeze fares in 2026 and reduce the price of long-distance single tickets from £3.40 to £3 we are exploring more options to help make ticket buying simpler by improving mobile and online payment options.
“Based on the log of those incidents, the numbers of people deliberately evading fares is now an average of less than 0.2 per cent - fewer than 200 passengers out of an overall number of more than 170,000 journeys over an average week.”