A new audit in San Francisco finds that cable car conductors are failing to collect fares from nearly a quarter of their passengers.
A Muni spokesperson says that’s actually an improvement last year’s audit.
This isn’t the first time the city’s controller has sent auditors undercover on-board the cable cars.
And while the number of people getting on these national landmarks without paying is still pretty high, the number of fare evaders in this most recent report is half that from the audit from last year.
Over the course of 12 months, city auditors got on board three cable car lines at different times of the day.
In the 100 trips they took, this latest report found that cable car conductors failed to collect cash fares or require proof of payment from the auditors 24 times, along with an estimated 253 other riders onboard.
That translates to a loss of nearly $2,000 in revenue. But the number of fare evaders was more than double that in the previous audit from the year before when nearly 600 fares were not collected.
Muni spokesperson Paul Rose says with one operator manning the grips, that leaves one conductor to collect fares and keep an eye on everyone on the open air tourist attractions.
“Any time we ask our operators to collect fares, it takes away from their ability to provide information to passengers at the same time keep everyone safe as possible,” Rose said.
He says one reason the number of missed fares went down is because they are continuing to encourage passengers to pay in ways other than cash, like Clipper Cards and the Muni smartphone app.
He expects to see a continued improvement if there are future audits
The transit agency is getting set to roll out a new pilot program by the end of this year that would make the cable cars fully cashless.
Those prepaid tickets will be able to be purchased at kiosks.
The pilot program is expected to be launched by December and the cashless system finalized in 2019.