Mark Hehir, a London bus driver who was sacked in January 2024 after chasing a thief who snatched a passenger's necklace, has revealed how he dealt with fare dodgers during his two years on the job. The 60-year-old warned drivers not to act like security guards and to avoid confrontations with those trying to board for free.
Hehir's advice on fare dodgers
Hehir told Metro: “It’s all about reading the situation. Would you stop a young girl who had no fare at 11pm in the rain? No. There’s an unspoken rule on buses – don’t interact with abusive people or fare dodgers. That’s for inspectors to sort out. You are not employed as a bouncer, you are a driver.”
Despite being hailed a hero for his actions in 2024, when he punched a thief in self-defence and restrained him until police arrived, Hehir stressed that fare dodgers are not worth the energy. His comments come as data reveals fare evasion costs Transport for London (TfL) £165 million a year, almost cancelling out the £168 million saved by raising prices for paying passengers.
Criticism of TfL's enforcement
Ameer Kotecha from the Centre for Government Reform, which released the figures, accused TfL of “sheer incompetence.” He said: “What they weren’t told is that fare evasion is costing TfL almost exactly the same amount the rise was expected to generate across the entire network. Before asking Londoners to dig deeper into their pocket, TfL needs to get serious about enforcement. This is not a funding problem, but sheer incompetence.”
An official report published last year indicated that TfL staff believed fare dodging had become “normalised” as they struggled to cope with passengers who refuse to buy tickets. TfL, however, reported that fare evasion dropped to 3.5% in 2022/23 from 3.9% the previous year, with a target of 1.5% by the end of the 2030 financial year.
TfL's response
A TfL spokesperson said: “This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other antisocial behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.”
Passengers were told in March that price rises across the Underground, Overground, and buses were necessary to maintain and improve services. Critics argue that TfL must tackle fare evasion more effectively before asking Londoners to pay more.
