Canberra's public transport service is cracking down on fare evaders, believed to be cheating the ACT more than a million dollars a year in revenue.
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Transport Canberra is deploying 30 compliance officers to catch people avoiding fares, warning they could be fined the first time they are caught.
While the transport body said the number of checks made during previous crackdowns was limited by previous 'processes', better training will reduce checking time and prevent disruption to schedules.
"This will also provide greater mobility to ensure that revenue protection is conducted across the network. Our current approach to fare evasion will be more comprehensive than previous activities," a spokesman said.
While Transport Canberra has not issued warning notices or fines for several years, consultancy firm MRCagney found in a 2015 expenditure review that improved fare revenue protection could reduce losses by between 2.5 and 5 per cent of total revenue. Transport Canberra estimates the figure could be more than $1 million.
In 2014, Transport Canberra announced ticket inspections would be more regular as part of an anti-fare evasion program.
Transport officers this month began checking MyWay cards and cash bus tickets to ensure people were paying the correct fare, Director Public Transport Operations Ian McGlinn said.
"We know that the majority of people do the right thing but we also know that there are people out there that aren't," he said.
Transport officers will conduct revenue patrols randomly across all routes in peak and off peak periods.
They will use MyWay card readers to check if passengers have tapped on, and what type of card is being used. Passengers may be asked to provide proof of concession entitlement.
In cases of fare evasion, officers will advise passengers of their responsibility to pay the correct fare, the penalties if they don't comply, and may issue warnings or an infringement notice.
Transport officers completed training in December that covered legislative requirements, how to check MyWay cards, information to be recorded, how to check concession entitlements, how to issue infringements, and where patrols should be conducted.
Transport Canberra said fare evasion negatively influenced travellers' experience of public transport.
"Those passengers who do pay the correct fare hold a more negative view of their journey where they perceive other passengers do not hold a valid ticket," its spokesman said.
Paul McKie, taking the bus home from the Civic interchange to Macgregor on Friday, said the crackdown would make the system fairer.
"People paying fares are carrying those who don't," he said.
"I think people who can afford to pay aren't paying."
Transport Workers' Union ACT sub branch secretary Klaus Pinkas said it supported the push, although it would not affect drivers' conditions.
"If it brings more money into action, it's a good thing."
Penalties range from $159 for travelling without a current ticket to $207 for providing misleading information of entitlement to a bus ticket concession.
The MRCagney report found in the previous 14 years, Canberra's bus patronage had declined, fares had fallen in real terms and cost recovery had declined.
