Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 October 2019

Public Accounts Committee

2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority

9:00 am

Mr. Tim Gaston:

We use two methods to monitor that. Because 80% or more of fares are gathered through the Leap card system, we are able to see that Go-Ahead operates on a very similar basis to that of Dublin Bus with regard to fare collection. Therefore, were there to be fare leakage, we would see that very quickly in the Leap card data coming through. With regard to the remainder, we are in the process of appointing our own independent revenue inspectors who will be separate from those employed by Go-Ahead. It will employ people to make sure the fares are being paid, we will employ people to survey that activity. It shadows or follows the same model used in respect of the Luas where TII independently monitors the fares collected on the Luas to ensure customers are paying the appropriate fare for the journeys they take. On that basis, we can see that the fares are being gathered and that customers are paying at point of use while, in the back office, we are able to track very closely the revenue per passenger per ticket type and to compare that with what is happening elsewhere in the network to satisfy ourselves that we are collecting all the revenue that is due from Go-Ahead. To date, we are satisfied.