How thousands avoid bus fares

They have become known as the happy buses - not because you always get a seat or because traffic magically parts before them but simply because they are so easy to use free of charge.

London's bendy buses were introduced on some routes to replace much-loved Routemasters. They were designed to carry many more passengers - but it appears a large number of those may be enjoying a free ride.

There are several ways of not paying the fare, depriving Transport for London (TfL) of revenue. Privately, TfL admits a real problem - especially in off-peak times and outside central London.

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show fare dodgers have clocked up more than 150 million journeys since Mayor Ken Livingstone came to power.

It is common knowledge on the nine routes that dodging is easy. Ticket inspectors are rarely, if ever, seen and drivers are not required to check tickets. Also, the Oyster machines that subtract fares from pre-paid cards are sometimes out of order. Legitimate users are amazed at the lack of checks. Maria Rubio, 30, an accountant from Walthamstow, said: "I see plenty of people getting on without a ticket. There's no controller, so there's no one to check. It seems like such a waste of resources. If you make it easy for people to cheat, they will."

Robert Sands, 72, retired, from Islington, said: "I've seen people who practically live on these buses, they just go round and round and never pay. If there's no ticket inspector - and I've never seen one - then everyone knows you don't have to pay, and no one will."

Our reporter spent a day discovering just how easy it is to evade the ?1 fare. He spent 10 hours on the 73 route between Essex Road and the Angel, Islington. Not once during 67 journeys was he asked to show his ticket.

On at least three journeys the Oyster card machine was out of order. On five attempts to board at the front to show his ticket, the entry remained shut and he was told to use the other doors. With three sets of doors, going unnoticed is easy and in cities such as Madrid and Berlin - which prompted Mr Livingstone to bring bendy buses to London - fines are much higher.

Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics, said: "In a city where there is the need for heavy-gated entry and exit points on the Underground and increasingly on suburban rail - unlike any other city in the world - the bendy bus ticketing system is an open goal.

"This could lead to substantial levels of non-payment. The only way it can work is for much heavier revenue protection, meaning a fair chance of meeting a ticket inspector."

TfL claims its surveys show fare evasion on all routes is only 2.2 per cent and is even lower on bendy buses, at 2.1 per cent. A spokesman said: "There's nothing new about fare evasion and there's little difference between the bendy buses and the Croydon Tramlink or Docklands Light Railway. They are open systems.

What is more surprising is that we have got 98 per cent of people paying the correct fare. The fact is we are doing better than ever at catching people."

But TfL has admitted it needs to do more. It is to boost inspector numbers from 200 to 250 and may increase the ?10 penalty fare.