FREELOADERS UNITE!

By JAMES TENAFLY

The delightfully self-aware Mutuelles des Fraudeurs, or Mutual Fraudsters, banded together Three Musketeers style to save their precious Euros by starting an insurance program for turnstile jumpers. With fines for skipping fare running about €60 per ticket, skipping fare can quickly become more expensive than buying an unlimited pass. For $8.50 a month, the Fraudeurs’ insurance buffers enrolled freeloaders from ever paying these. If, or rather when an insured rider gets caught skipping fare, the Fraudeurs’ fund covers them.

At first blush, this sounds like the perfect way to make crime pay, but let’s take a look from The Man’s perspective: The Metro costs $9 billion a year to maintain and operate. Of this, ticket sales account for only $3.9 billion. That remaining $5.1 billion comes from advertising and taxes. Only three cities in the world run profitable rapid-transit systems: Osaka, Tokyo and Delhi. These cities are also among the most populous.

The Fraudeurs ingenious scam makes cheating the system more sensible than paying. Undoubtably, this will increase the number of cheaters over time. When the time comes to pay for the Metro’s operation, Paris’ city government will need to spend more to cover the lost ticket revenue. Which will mean higher taxes, more lame ads, and raised fares. If the Metro loses enough money, they’ll probably even cut service. Not to go all civics class, but in the end the Fraudeurs will be ripping off fellow Parisians — not some fat cat subway tycoon. Maybe “no honesty between thieves” is a better economic model for everyone.

By JAMES TENAFLY 1 year ago

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