Transport Canberra Fare Evasion Survey Wave 1 Benchmark October 2019 Prepared by Painted Dog Research Background, Objectives & Approach 2 The Canberra Light Rail system comprises a 12 km light Background rail alignment from Gungahlin Town Centre following Hibberson Street, Flemington Road, the Federal Highway and Northbourne Avenue to the City. It is the primary Transport Canberra has delivered Stage 1 transport corridor connecting Canberra’s growing northern of the Canberra Light Rail system with suburbs with the City and the south. services having commenced in April 2019. While the Territory is responsible for providing the physical Electronic Ticketing System (ETS), collection of fare revenue, setting fares and establishing fare policies, Canberra Metro Operations (CMO) is responsible for revenue protection and the minimisation of fare evasion across the light rail system. Transport Canberra engaged Painted Dog Research to develop a methodology and conduct the Fare Evasion Surveys to assist in determining the level of Fare Evasion on the Light Rail System. This document details the approach and fare evasion results from the Wave 1 Benchmark Study (conducted in September 2019). 3 Research Objectives The overall Strategic Aim of this research was: To Design and Conduct Fare Evasion Surveys to assist in determining the level of Fare Evasion on the Light Rail System. The information objectives required to address the overall strategic aim are detailed on the right: 1 Measure Fare Evasion To determine the overall level of Fare Evasion on the Light Rail System which will used by the Territory to abate Canberra Metro Operations for poor performance, or reward for performance below the minimum specified KPI for fare evasion. 2 Determine Fare Evasion Type To determine the types of fare evasion within the overall mix, for example complete evasion (no valid ticket; not tapped on); concessional evasion (using a concession ticket without satisfactory evidence that the passenger is entitled to use a concession ticket). 3 Determine Fare Evasion Trends To identify patterns of fare evasion by time of day; day of week; location; on-board versus at stop, etc. 4 Time Series Analysis To enable, in subsequent waves, a comparison of results to previous fare evasion monitors to provide a time series analysis of performance and changes over time. 5 Estimate Lost Revenue due to Fare Evasion To calculate (where feasible) an annualised estimate of total revenue loss due to fare evasion using seasonally adjusted annualised daily patronage data once the light rail system has been operating for a full year. 4 Critical considerations The survey approach incorporated consideration of a number of important variables. Statistical Robustness Fare Evasion Determination Rules • To ensure the passenger sample surveyed provided • Passengers aged 13 years and under were not included rigorous and robust data to allow highly accurate fare in the survey and not approached for the survey evasion estimates and the ability to calculate annualised procedure. revenue losses in the future. • Fare Evasion Rules are determined based on relevant ACT legislation at the time of conducting the survey. This Service Coverage is currently outlined in the ‘Road Transport (Public • To ensure the approach provided coverage across each Passenger Services) Public Transport Fares weekday and weekend day; across operational hours; Determination 2018’. Therefore, the Fare Evasion Rules across light rail vehicles; and across passenger cohorts may vary over the term of this contract in line with current in a balanced and proportionate manner. legislation. • The Territory, at their discretion, may request to exclude Survey Validity survey results from a specific demographic group in • The approach incorporated authorised Transport accordance with specific direction provided to Canberra Canberra Territory Staff and Transit Officers who Metro Operations or consequent to changed Fares worked alongside the surveying team during the survey Determination. Any excluded survey results will be period to operate the ticket reading machines (froggers). advised to Project Co at least 90 days prior to the survey commencing This approach provided the following benefits: ➢ To demonstrate to passengers that ticket checks are actually conducted ➢ To reinforce the validity of the survey process as an official initiative ➢ To send a clear message to fare evaders to rethink their future behaviour ➢ To provide a security presence for our survey team 5 The Survey Instrument The survey form was kept brief and concise, to allow as many evaluations to be completed as possible. The survey will remain a dynamic and stable tool for the ongoing assessment of fare evasion in subsequent waves. The structure of the survey instrument included the following: 1. Ticket Type Checked: • MyWay • Paper ticket • No ticket provided • Refusal 2. Passenger Survey Outcome: • Correct full fare paid • Correct concessional fare paid • Concessional fare evasion (using a concession ticket without satisfactory evidence that the passenger is entitled to use a concession ticket) • Complete fare evasion (MyWay not tapped on; no valid ticket) • Platform Validation / Ticket Machine Issue • Card error 3. Additional Information: • Timestamp of survey • Location • On-board versus at platform 6 ➢ Weather Observations: ▪ The official weather observations over the period of the survey are summarised below. The weather was generally clear and sunny, averaging 2.30 minimum and 16.60 maximum, with just 3.8mm of rain falling on Saturday September 7. Canberra Weather Observations (Source: bom.gov.au) Minimum Maximum Rainfall °C °C mm Thursday September 5 1.5 21.2 0 Friday September 6 5.7 20.1 0 Saturday September 7 5.0 11.8 3.8 Sunday September 8 4.0 13.4 0 Monday September 9 3.7 14.1 0 Tuesday September 10 -0.5 16.3 0 Wednesday September 11 -3.1 19.4 0 7 Sampling 8 11,489 surveys were Day of Week completed over the Monday 22% fieldwork period – Tuesday 15% with an even split Wednesday 18% between on-board Thursday 14% and at stop Friday 14% locations. Saturday 9% Sunday 8% Location On-board 53% Alinga Street Stop 34% Dickson Interchange Stop 6% Gungahlin Place Stop 5% Nullarbor Avenue Stop 2% The GPS map below plotting each survey location shows that surveys were conducted across the system: 9 Results 10 Total Boardings & Surveys Conducted 11 71,771 MyWay The total MyWay boarding figure excludes paper tickets. The peak boarding period was between 8:15am and 8:29am with 3,147 MyWay boardings recorded during this Boardings and 15 minute period across the weekdays. 69,535 Alightings The peak alighting period was between 8:45am and 8:59am with 3,445 alightings recorded during this 15 were recorded minute period across the weekdays. The difference between total MyWay boardings and across the survey alightings reflects passengers forgetting to tap off (2,236). weekdays (Monday to Friday). 12 12,297 MyWay The total MyWay boarding figure excludes paper tickets. The peak boarding period was between 1:15pm and 1:29pm with 306 MyWay boardings recorded during this 15 Boardings and minute period across the weekend. 11,844 Alightings The peak alighting period was between 2:15pm and 2:29pm with 294 alightings recorded during this 15 minute were recorded period across the weekend. The difference between total MyWay boardings and across the survey alightings reflects passengers forgetting to tap off (453). weekend (Saturday and Sunday). 13 The passenger surveys were conducted across the 9,558 passenger majority of LRV operational hours, from 6:15am to 10:14pm, excluding 8:00pm to 8:29pm. surveys were The peak survey period was between 8:45am and 8:59am with 651 surveys conducted during this 15 minute period conducted across across the weekdays.. the survey The proportion of surveys collected during key operational periods was designed to reflect MyWay boarding weekdays (Monday percentages as closely as possible. The under and over-representations of survey percentages to Friday). to MyWay boarding percentages were taken into account when calculating the weighted fare evasion figure. 14 The passenger surveys were conducted across a high 1,901 passenger proportion of LRV operational hours, from 8:15am to 7:14pm over the weekend. surveys were The peak survey period was between 2:15pm and 2:29pm with 120 surveys conducted during this 15 minute period conducted across across the weekend. the survey The proportion of survey percentages collected during key operational periods was designed to reflect MyWay weekend (Saturday boarding percentages as closely as possible. The under and over-representations of survey percentages and Sunday). to MyWay boarding percentages were taken into account when calculating the weighted fare evasion figure. 15 Fare Evasion 16 The results from the Wave 1 Benchmark survey of 11,489 The overall passengers have been weighted to be representative of actual boardings in relation to when the surveys were weighted fare conducted across key travel time periods during the survey week. The weighted fare evasion calculation is shown evasion result is overleaf. The fare evasion estimate is highly accurate with a low 4.5%. margin of error of + 0.36% based on a 95% level of confidence. NOTE: This data is weighted for the overall fare evasion result. All other results in this document are based on the unweighted fare evasion result. Due to the very low margin of error (+0.36%) the results remain statistically reliable and highly accurate, with minimal variation compared to the weighted result. Overall Weighted Fare Evasion % 4.5 95.5 Correct Fare Paid Fare Evasion 17 The table below summarises the weighting procedure, Weighted Fare which takes into account the relativities between the passenger boarding profile and the passenger survey profile – separate tables for the weekday and weekend Evasion Calculation survey results are shown. The total week weighted fare evasion result of 4.5% used this data and adjusted for the relative contribution of weekday patronage versus weekend patronage.