Looks like the
saga regarding the JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transport Company) has taken another
turn! First there was the fact that the two (2) bus fires occurred, apparently
due to lack of maintenance and the fact that the Cashless System, dubbed
Smarter Card, hasn’t being implemented despite a fare increase as stated in my blog article
entitled “JUTC
SmarterCard Cashless System to be implemented in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 -
Upgrade buses to use LPG Fuel to reduce Maintenance costs”.
Now it has come
to light directly from the JUTC on Saturday October 5th 2013 that
the Bus fires were deliberately set, based on a report from a motor
vehicle fire expert as stated in the article “Arson!” published
Saturday, October 05, 2013, The
Jamaica Observer. Not only that, but it seems that the JUTC still has the
problem of increasing losses due to uncollected Tickets and now Bust Ticket
Fraud as reported in mainly involving:
1.
Concessionary Tickets
for adult (ages 18 to 99) passengers
2.
Resale of old Tickets
3.
Sale of test Tickets
4.
Sale of blank Tickets
This isn’t surprising. With the fare hike to JA$100 which
many adult travelers on the JUTC buses may not be able to afford, many are
trying all manner of ways to avoid spending extra. Photocopying Tickets is the
most obvious method.
JUTC Ticket Fraud – How to defraud
the JUTC and reduce your Bus Fare
Just save your old Ticket and scan it into a *.bmp or *.jpeg
file and then print it at the St. Andrew Parish Library where colour prints
cost JA$15.00 and black and white prints cost JA$8.00. After you collect your
single colour copy, you can then photocopy the Ticket over and over again for
about JA$15.00 per photocopy at the very same Library for little or nothing!
The really skilled individuals can modify the Tickets using
Photoshop or other free Photo editing software as noted in my blog
article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing
Software and How to get a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free” an change the dates and times to
reflect some time in the future and reuse them for Transfers from one bus to
another.
This method has
the obvious danger. The paper used for the Bust Tickers is Thermal paper,
similar to the paper used in Cash Registers based on my experience working on
the SHARP Account at ACCENT Marketing as noted in my blog
article entitled “Competition
in Mobile POS coming from Square as SHARP is rescued by Qualcomm - Move to
Mobile Computing On the Road indicates SHARP's Playing for Keeps”.
Worse is the Ticket
itself. It’s thermally printed, meaning that anyone with access to a thermal
printer can re-treat the paper and reprint over the paper. Thereby the Ticket
is a little more legitimate as it’s the correct paper but the incorrect
information coming directly from a Ticket Machine either in the JUTC Bus or the
JUTC Transport Center in Half Way Tree.
Using this and
various other copying methods, some involving the very same JUTC Bus conductors
stealing rolls of Thermal paper, members of the commuting public are able to
defraud the JUTC and thus reduce their bus fare, sometimes travelling on the
same fraudulent Ticket for the entire day via the JUTC Bus System.
JUTC Ticket Fraud – Switchover to the
SmarterCard Cashless System before 2014 required
Since the JUTC Ticket
are a lot like money, the unfortunate choice of having to put in place copy
protection schemes similar to those use for money may be a possibility. But
it’s not necessary. What’s needed to solve the problem of Fraudulent Tickets is
the full implementation of the SmarteCard Cashless Bus Ticket System.
The JUTC needs
to announce a switchover date and advertise it via various road shows and on
Social Media, pamphleteering and Traditional Media such as Newspaper and
Television Ads to get people geared up for a Switchover wholesale to the
SmarterCard System.
A competition to
give rewards to passengers of the JUTC who switchover before a certain date
would also be a nice touch and great PR (Public Relations), as it means that
passengers would feel the JUTC isn’t just taking money from them and it’s
disappearing down a drain.
Not to mention
making driving the JUTC buses safer, as many of the drivers are breaking the
Road Traffic Act as they are in many cases driving distracted. This as by accepting
money and driving, it’s creating a lax attitude to road safety among many JUTC
Drivers who are involved in the practice of counting money despite their
guidebook telling them not to do so, based on this covert Jamaica Gleaner Video
Thus they’d feel
less inclined to defraud the company. It would also make the more confident in
the JUTC Bus System and allay any fears of the Buses catching fire as it would
generate much feel good feeling about the System being more efficient in their
collection of Bus Fares.
Hopefully the
JUTC will take this recommendation as well as the recommendation to go
islandwide and revive the JRC (Jamaica Railway Corporation) as argued in my blog article
entitled “JUTC
SmarterCard Cashless System to be implemented in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 -
Upgrade buses to use LPG Fuel to reduce Maintenance costs” in a Multimodal approach to
solving Jamaica’s transportation problems!
As for the case
of arson – that’s a whole different ball of wax for yet another blog article.
That is, after the JUTC has investigated the matter and determined who and why
would anyone set two (2) JUTC buses afire and why the No. 66 and No. 88.
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