Risibly expensive things

[massrock]

Actually on that occasion the guy had clearly just accidentally sat in the poorly demarcated '1st Class' section for no more than a few seconds and did actually have a ticket.

 

[Mr. Tea]

do you guys all pay for the train? i stopped buying tickets or paying for monthly transit passes right after finding out that the ticket people, who are far and few in between, can not actually lay a hand on you because they are not police, and you can just run.

but i ride my hummerbike 95% of the time.

Have you tried being all Chinese at them and pretending you don't understand the concept of paying to use a train, because in the glorious People's Republic everything is free?

 

[zhao]

I've seen them call ahead to have transport cops wait for someone at a station who's been found not to have the right ticket while on the train.

Again though the German's are much more nervous about being authoritarian then the British are now.

just tell them something like you have no cash on you, but you are meeting a friend at the next stop who has money on him to give them for the fine, so they don't call the cops.

i've also seen street tuffs just plain ignore them when they ask to see a ticket. and they just walk away.

 

[zhao]

Have you tried being all Chinese at them and pretending you don't understand the concept of paying to use a train, because in the glorious People's Republic everything is free?

no but i have played the tourist card very well before.

 

[nomadthethird]

do you guys all pay for the train? i stopped buying tickets or paying for monthly transit passes right after finding out that the ticket people, who are far and few in between, can not actually lay a hand on you because they are not police, and you can just run.

but i ride my hummerbike 95% of the time.

In Germany I just couldn't believe you were taken on your word to buy a train ticket.

In NY I have been stopped by undercover cops for jumping the damn turnstile and given a summons because I refused to give them my driver's license number. They literally waste tax payer money putting undercover cops on benchs by the turnstile to watch for jumpers. In Manhattan mostly, I'm assuming. But still, stupid.

I think I had to pay $300 bucks for one because I skipped the court date.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

actually it's not terribly difficult to get away w/taking an Amtrak train w/o paying tho I'd rather not go into details for obvious reasons. also there used to be - probably still are but I'm out of date - various Amtrak & Greyhound ticket scams much beloved by the punks - tho I never used them personally cos I hate the bus (also freight/hitching is free). also these days I'd never dodge Amtrak fare - being a firm believer in the superiority of rail to buses etc.

In NY I have been stopped by undercover cops for jumping the damn turnstile

the trick - or a trick, at least - is to duck under the turnstile. less conspicuous & that. actually you used to be able to do this trick where you kinda folded the magnetic edge of the transit card & you could use it unlimited # of times. tho dunno about that one either cos I haven't been in NYC for awhile.

 

[nomadthethird]

the trick - or a trick, at least - is to duck under the turnstile. less conspicuous & that. actually you used to be able to do this trick where you kinda folded the magnetic edge of the transit card & you could use it unlimited # of times. tho dunno about that one either cos I haven't been in NYC for awhile.

This one works if the plainclothed police officers aren't sitting a few feet away on the bench looking directly at the turnstiles. In Brooklyn, we used to only buy one unlimited card and go two or three at a time through.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Ten quid mysteriously evaporated from my Oyster card this evening. Never happened before. I'm going to make a fucking FUSS AND A HALF about this, you see if I don't...

 

[zhao]

various ... scams much beloved by the punks

before they switched to digital parking meters i used to love the penny trick that would fill up the meter to maximum time.

GOD i don't miss having a car at all... in Korea town LA (or parts of SF) the city planning is so irresponsible that they would typically give a building with 100 apartments only 20 parking spaces. so that almost every time i went to my then GF's house i would spend 30 minutes to an hour looking for parking. you can just imagine the working class folk who lived there... a daily nightmare.

and the millions of commuters who spend hours every day stuck in traffic. simply dehumanizing and spirit crushing.