Rome, on-board inspectors return to the buses

After the stop of over a year caused by the anti-covid regulations, starting from today Atac will reactivate the services for verifying travel tickets on board surface and underground vehicles. “The return of the inspectors on board is an important decision that will also serve to ensure greater safety for our customers and compliance with the rules. It is also an act of respect for all those customers who have continued to pay for the ticket in this pandemic year. . Others have not done so: unacceptable behavior, I would even say immoral, which we have a duty to oppose “. Thus the sole director Giovanni Mottura. “The fight against tax evasion is a struggle of civilization, especially for a public company, which everyone is asking to improve in everything. But without the proceeds of the tickets it is very difficult. And now that we are starting to see a glimmer of light from tunnel into which the pandemic has slipped us, it would have been reckless not to restart the controls which, I remember, will also allow us to better monitor compliance with the anti-covid rules. I thank – continues Mottura – the general manager Franco Giampaoletti, who coordinated the technical discussions, finding a synthesis between the needs of workers and those of customers. We hope that this first step will lead in the shortest possible time to a normalization in the use of public transport, a prerequisite for a lasting recovery of the service “. The decision to restart controls, shared with the workers’ representatives, was taken after having drawn up a strengthened safety protocol to protect employees and customers, so that the activity can be carried out without health risks. In order to inform all citizens and users of the resumption of the service, Atac will launch a communication campaign.The return of the controllers on board the vehicles allows Atac to restart the actions that, before the pandemic, had determined a positive trend on all items relating to verification activities. In fact, passengers checked in 2019 were about 4 million, 38% more than in 2018 and 61% more than in 2017. The cars checked in 2019 were almost 190 thousand, 31% more than in 2018 and 43% compared to 2017. Also in 2019, the total of high penalties reached almost 230 thousand, up 34% compared to 2018 and 55% compared to 2017. Finally, the fines paid within the first 5 days, thanks to the introduction of mobile POS to pay the fine in reduced form, in 2019 they exceeded the 80 thousand threshold (for a collection of approximately 4.5 million euros), marking an increase of 97% compared to 2018 and 175% compared to 2017. With the resumption of activities, the numbers will start to grow again.