"Don't travel uncorvered!": ATB and TEB take the field with Rugby Bergamo to fight against fare evasion

Bergamo, 18th June 2024 - "Don't travel uncovered!" This is the message launched today for the presentation of ATB and TEB's anti-evasion campaign. Lending their faces to the campaign are the Rugby Bergamo players who are back on the field alongside the Local Public Transport companies to say no to fare evasion and raise awareness among passengers who use buses, trams and funiculars for their daily journeys.

Rules, cooperation, respect, timing and a sense of belonging, these are the values shared by public transport passengers and Rugby players. A parallelism and common goal between public transport and sport in which teamwork, in the first case, increases the resources to be invested in improving the ATB and TEB service and, in the second, generates points for winning on the field.

In particular: there are rules to be respected on the Rugby Bergamo field as there are on ATB and TEB vehicles; cooperation, among rugby players it is fundamental to score goals and among passengers it is a duty to be shared and spread by validating the ticket or owning the season ticket; travelling by public transport, with the correct ticket, means having respect for the rules, for those who travel like you and for the vehicle whether it be bus, tram or funicular; timing is crucial, stamping as soon as you board is as good as immediately supporting your comrade who has been tackled; finally, paying for your ticket and travelling on the local public transport network generates a sense of belonging to society that is equivalent to feeling part of a team. Not internalising these values means travelling "uncovered", without protection or excuses.  

Every day, the non-payment of a trip means a loss for companies comparable economically to about 80 trips. The evasion rate in 2023 was 7.5 per cent, an increase of 1.2 per cent compared to 2022. This figure is unfortunately also rising in the first months of 2024, which is why, since last spring, ATB and TEB have taken additional measures to ensure compliance with the rules and safety for all passengers.

Since March, in fact, on-board inspections have been intensified, also thanks to the partnership signed with Holacheck, which provides for the presence of specialised personnel to support ATB's inspection staff on the buses and on TEB's T1 tramway. Suffice it to say that in the first few months of operation, March, April and May, 2,100 fines were imposed, adding up to approximately 4,800 fines imposed by ATB personnel in the first months of the year.