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This is one of those things where it doesn't actually matter in the long run, as long as most people do not abuse the system. It relies on social cohesion to a

This is one of those things where it doesn't actually matter in the long run, as long as most people do not abuse the system. It relies on social cohesion to a point. So long as the train isn't entirely full and you're taking up a seat that could be used by someone else, the marginal cost (in fuel, maintenance, etc) to the train operator of having an additional person on the train is very close to zero. The train is going from St Ives to Wick anyway; if you do what you describe, the train operator is in essentially the same situation as if you had simply decided not to take the trip. So as long as the fares that are actually paid are sufficient to operate the train and pay wages to the employees, the train operator can absorb the handful of people who do what you describe. As long as most people don't cheat the system in that way, it's easier to simply ignore.

jdietrich 3y ago
>So as long as the fares that are actually paid are sufficient to operate the train and pay wages to the employees That would be a rare exception to the rule. Almost all public transport systems run at a loss and rely on public subsidy; revenues lost through fare evasion increase the burden on the taxpayer.
- margalabargala 3y ago
  TfL claims they have an operating surplus. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/annual-budget-for-2023-24-shows-tfl-set-to-deliver-operating-surplus https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/...
  - tialaramex 3y ago
    They do. But their income includes revenue from taxation. Suppose you own a London business. You pay taxes to the local government. In London, these taxes include money for TfL. After all, you chose to put the business in London, a city with a large public transport network, if you didn't like that you could have put your business in, say, Slough, and avoided this cost. Passenger revenue is TfL's largest source of income by some distance, but it's nowhere close to enough to pay for the entire network, let alone the necessary capital investments to grow and change with the city. And of course if prices went up, ridership would fall, and transport would be diverted to the over-stretched and polluting private transport options which the city does not want.

jdietrich 3y ago

>So as long as the fares that are actually paid are sufficient to operate the train and pay wages to the employees That would be a rare exception to the rule. Almost all public transport systems run at a loss and rely on public subsidy; revenues lost through fare evasion increase the burden on the taxpayer.

margalabargala 3y ago
TfL claims they have an operating surplus. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/annual-budget-for-2023-24-shows-tfl-set-to-deliver-operating-surplus https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/...
- tialaramex 3y ago
  They do. But their income includes revenue from taxation. Suppose you own a London business. You pay taxes to the local government. In London, these taxes include money for TfL. After all, you chose to put the business in London, a city with a large public transport network, if you didn't like that you could have put your business in, say, Slough, and avoided this cost. Passenger revenue is TfL's largest source of income by some distance, but it's nowhere close to enough to pay for the entire network, let alone the necessary capital investments to grow and change with the city. And of course if prices went up, ridership would fall, and transport would be diverted to the over-stretched and polluting private transport options which the city does not want.