Have you ever cheated on bus fare?

@winterose (39887)
Canada
March 24, 2007 4:31pm CST
When my son was little, yes I pretended he was still under 5 so he didn't have to pay when he was already 7. It did save a lot of money. Now Montreal has these new machines for bus fare that calculates the amount of money you put in the box, now you have to put in exact fare. Many people cheated by putting less, no they cannot. I did only once or twice when I really needed to get somewhere badly and I was missing a nickel or so , but I always felt guilty. Now nobody can anymore. Have you ever cheated on bus fare, do you feel it is okay to do that or did you feel guilty about it If you cheated why did you do it? would you continue to do it if you could?
8 people like this
51 responses
@raydene (9871)
• United States
24 Mar 07
I never have Winterose but I never ride a bus. If you had to cheat from time to time because you really needed to I don't think it was bad.We sometimes do what we need to do.It is not up to me or anyone else to judge you life...after all I have not spent any time in your shoes.
3 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
25 Mar 07
thanks raydene but |I don't need or ask any one to judge my life, I simply provided an example out of my life and posed the question to anyone else if they had done it before.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
24 Mar 07
No I don't think I can, not even in my homeland. Busses here have the machine anyway so I can't do it here either. If I could, I wouldn't continue to do that, since I believe in karma :) little things add up to big disaster, that's what I always remind myself
3 people like this
@lenywp (1963)
• Australia
25 Mar 07
I reckon that everybody's done that sometime during their childhood. If you look young - be it lol
2 people like this
@shooie (4984)
• United States
25 Mar 07
I look at it this way. How would I feel if I was in the store and or somewhere and I gave them money and they short changed me. What happens is people think oh it is only this once or twice and well after awhile prices go up and the people that tdon't cheat have to pay as well. So no I have never cheated on bus fare and anything else.
2 people like this
@kurtbiewald (2625)
• United States
25 Mar 07
its a minor crime, you didn't have that nickel I'm crazy and I can ride for like 35 cents I don't even know how much it costs
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
25 Mar 07
i never cheated on the bus fare or on any other thing, if a remember correctly. firstly this is ethically and morally burdonsome for me to do that. secondly fear of being caught and humiliated in public is such a thing that i would better die than to be humiliated over such a thing. i buy a monthly ticket for traveling, since i travel a lot within city. last month since it was february, i forgot that it's 28 days and on 1st march i boarded a bus as usual. but when a one of the two boys who were chatting beside me noted that it's 1st march, i was shocked. i was getting late but still i got off the bus, walked about a whole km to nearest shop to buy the ticket and then took the next bus.
2 people like this
• United States
25 Mar 07
That's taking honesty a bit too far if you ask me... Most people would recognize you made an honest mistake, and forgive your brief lapse in memory... or at least I would hope so.
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
25 Mar 07
the question have you ever done it before
@dixie1 (1330)
• United States
25 Mar 07
Hi, No, I have never cheated on bus fair. The only time I utilized bus services was when I was in college.
@jewel76 (2305)
• Canada
25 Mar 07
I already cheated a few times, by a nickel or dime, and no, i didn't feel guilty. Did the bus driver feel guilty about making us wait, in the cold, for an extra 15 minutes? I don't think so. The service is full of it, and every year they keep on raising the prices. It's not fair, because they know that a lot of ppl have no choice to buy the monthly bus pass, for they have to go to work or school, they take advantage of us, why should we feel guilty?
2 people like this
@nangel78 (1454)
• United States
25 Mar 07
I have never cheated on a bus fare. When I was in college, I used the campus bus and the fees were already included in our tuition.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Mar 07
No I havent, but my bus drivers were always really strict about you handing them the money and them putting the money into the counter.
2 people like this
@mdarma (868)
• Singapore
29 Mar 07
Hi Winterose, In Singapore, the public transport system, realizing that they were losing a substantial amount, when people cheat on the correct fare. Now, they have introduce a card system, that you can store a certain amount of $ and the correct fare will be deducted from this card. Further you can always top up this card whenever the store valve reduces. It works quite simply. When you board the bus, you scan your card at the entrance and when you alight off, the correct amount is deducted. If one fails to scan the card properly when they get in the bus, there is an alarm or buzzer that will sound off when they try to get off, so you scan the card at the entrance and scan it again at the exit Even then there are still some individual who try to cheat. So for such instance, we do have bus-ticket inspectors popping in from various bus stops. I like this system. Why? Previously sometimes, I end putting more fare then necessary and whereby I overpay. When this card system was introduced I was quite happy because the correct fare will be deducted. Yes, I have previously paid less fare then the required amount because I did not have enough change with me. The ride was never been comfortable, because I dread the idea if the ticket inspector comes in and I was caught. There is no fine impose, however, we will be required to pay the length of the whole journey again. The problem is everyone will be looking at you, and it will be very xxxxxx.
1 person likes this
• Portugal
25 Mar 07
This happened to me in Brazil too. My parents made me pass trough even when I should have to pay. I didn't think that this could happens in others countries too. In Portugal for example this don't happen.
1 person likes this
@sunavi (16)
• India
25 Mar 07
I stay in the busiest city in India, Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) I personally feel the responsibility of not cheating and buying right ticket for my daughter, not only in the bus, but at cinema halls, theatre etc I have seen people, even my near relatives carrying kids as big as six while entering the cinema hall and avoiding ticket Finally they end up disturbing other people at the show, since they are more people that seats Its not that serious situation in a city bus or a local train, esp if it is crowded (A local train in Bombay has a designated capacity to carry 3-4000 passengers, but it always carries more. At peak times, it can be as much as 9,000) However, i never feel comfortable either travelling without ticket myself or taking my five yr daughetr without a ticket Saving money is not the real issue there, I buy a monthly pass . But when i have to travel with family, spending time in a long queue for the ticket is really time wasting. One of my friends has a different and intersting way out He daily travels without ticket, so he does not waste time in que for either the ticket or the monthly pass, he just keeps money ready for the fine (if caught). He has a calculated probability of getting caught by a ticket checker (and also practised body language to avoid that as much as possible). If he gets caught once or twice a month, he anyway spends the same amount whihc he would have spent on a monthly pass. So money anyway comes from his pocket and goes to the railway dept, but through a different route, Outcome- he saves a lot of time and worry Its strange but not cheating or theft- is it?
@cinz20 (63)
• Philippines
25 Mar 07
i never cheated for the bus fare.... just be fair and they are just doing their job.. ok also gods will see us..
1 person likes this
• India
25 Mar 07
cheating is not at all good.
1 person likes this
• India
25 Mar 07
yes i will tell the truth here i cheated around 3 to 4 times in my college life . when we all friends were together we all never buy the ticket we all are in campus and we say that we have a staff that we are college students . i think its a part of everyone life we all enjoy that in our group sometimes but not everytime
1 person likes this
• Philippines
25 Mar 07
No... never. From where I come from there are inspectors walking around that checks passenger's tickets. It's actually them who cheats and sometimes (i feel) shortchanges me deliberately.
@tingvan (12)
• China
25 Mar 07
if the behavior you said is cheating, i cheat every time i got bus. 'cause here we must pay $1.2 for everyone. but i seldom have 20 cents. i remember the first time i got bus i put in the exact fare but i saw the others didn't and the driver didn't say anyting. so the next time i also put in $1.
1 person likes this
@omerta (90)
• Philippines
25 Mar 07
no havent done it yet and i got no plan of cheating.. its like cheating yourself.. everyone works hard,wtf your the one who'd been cheated? is it fair? but i understand that you only done it once/twice coz your gone out of nickel:)
1 person likes this
• Philippines
25 Mar 07
didnt pay for the cus fare yes...but cheating, I guess not. Honestly at that incident I completely forgotten about the fare. I was so lost because I got into some big problem at school that I lost track i even missed my stop by a mile. :)
1 person likes this