Chile increases measures against public transport fare evasion

Chile’s transport ministry (MTT) will intensify fare inspections across Santiago’s bus system to tackle evasion, following a decision to freeze fares at least through July.

About 40% of bus and 1% of metro users did not pay in the first quarter of 2022, and authorities want to see a substantial drop this quarter, transport minister Juan Carlos Muñoz said during a press event in response to a question by BNamericas.

At the event to present a new anti-evasion plan, Muñoz said 30,000 inspections were carried out in January, 78% more than in the same month last year, with 2,500 inspections leading to penalties involving fines and the removal of evaders from buses.

“It is difficult to say how much loss [evasion] causes specifically,” Muñoz said, because bus rides are part of metro fares within a two-hour window. 

Other anti-evasion measures include installing equipment at bus stops that enables access to the area only after passengers pay their fare, as well as ways to prevent passengers hopping on buses through designated exit doors. 

“We truly understand that each time someone evades their fare, they're taking funds away that have very different purposes such as housing or health,” Muñoz said.

Last week, authorities announced that public transport fares in Santiago will not rise in the first half of the year for normal passengers and will remain unchanged for senior citizens and students for the entire year. Muñoz said the state of public finances allows for the freeze.

Santiago’s fares have remained unchanged since October 2019, when the Sebastián Piñera administration reversed a 30-peso (US$0.04) increase that triggered protests and violence directed at the metro system and led to a constitutional rewriting process. Before that, fares rose at regular intervals several times per year.

When asked if lower evasion rates would remove the need for fare increases, Muñoz said more paying users would improve the system’s finances, but other factors also influence the values.