Proof-of-payment: Difference between revisions

'''Proof-of-payment''' '''(POP)''' or '''Proofproof-of-fare''' '''(POF)''' is an [[honor system|honor]]-based [[fare]] collection system used on many [[public transportation]] systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a [[fare control]] zone, passengers are required to carry a [[Ticket (admission)|paper ticket]], transit pass, transit smartcard - or aopen transitpayment smartcardmethods such as contactless credit or debit cards (if applicable) - after swiping or tapping on smart card readers, to prove that they have paid the valid fare. Fares are enforced via random spot-checks by inspectors such as [[Conductor (transportation)|conductors]] or enforcement officers, to ensure that passengers have paid their fares and are not committing [[fare evasion]]. On many systems, a passenger can purchase a single-use ticket or multi-use pass at any time in advance, but must insert the ticket or pass into a validation machine immediately before use. Validation machines in stations or on board vehicles [[time stamp]] the ticket. The ticket is then valid for some period of time after the stamped time.

This method is implemented when the transit authority believes it will lose less money to the resultant fare evasion than it would cost to install and maintain a more direct collection method. It may be used in systems whose passenger volume and density are not very high most of the time—as passenger volumes increase, more-direct collection methods become more profitable. However, in some countries it is common even on systems with very high passenger volume. Proof-of-payment is usually applied on [[one-man operation|one-manperson operated]] rail and road vehicles as well as on [[Automatic train operation|automatically operated]] rail lines.

The honor system can be complemented with a more direct collection approach where this would be feasible—a transit authority utilizing POP will usually post fare inspectors, sometimes armed as a police force, to man entrances to stations on a discretionary basis when a high volume of passengers is expected. For example, transit users leaving a [[stadium]] immediately following a major concert or sporting event will likely have to buy a ticket from an attendant (or show proof of payment) to gain access to the station serving the stadium. Direct fare collection methods may also be used at major hubs in systems that otherwise use POP. An example of this is the [[Tower City station|Tower City]] station on [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]]'s [[RTA Rapid Transit]] [[Red Line (Cleveland)|Red Line]], which uses [[faregate]]s.

Disadvantages include potentially higher raterates of fare evasion, reduced security on station platforms when no barrier is used, increased potential of [[racial profiling]] and other unequal enforcement as "likely fare evaders" are targeted, and regularly exposing passengers to unpleasant confrontational situations when a rider without the proper proof is detained and removed from the vehicle. Visitors unfamiliar with a system's validation requirements who innocently misunderstand the rules are especially likely to get into trouble.

Proof-of-payment is popular in Germany, where it was widely introduced during the labor shortages resulting from the [[Wirtschaftswunder|Economic Miracle]] of the 1960s. It has also been adopted in Eastern Europe and Canada and has made some inroads in newer systems in the United States. The first use of the term "POP" or "Proof of Payment" on a rail line in North America is believed to have been in [[Edmonton Transit Service|Edmonton]] in 1980. Since then, many new [[light rail]], [[streetcar]], and [[bus rapid transit]] systems have adopted the procedure, mainly to avoidspeed up boarding by avoiding the hassles of crowding at doors to pay fares at a [[farebox]] beside the driver as is common practice on traditional [[bus]]es. San Francisco's [[San Francisco Municipal Railway|MUNI]] system became the first North American system-wide adopter of the proof-of-payment system on July 1, 2012 across its buses, [[Muni Metro|light rail]] and heritage streetcars, with the exception of [[San Francisco cable car system|cable cars]], allowing boarding on all the available doors.<ref>{{cite web