econlife - The Best Way to Reduce Fare Evasion by Elaine Schwartz

It might be the subway emergency exits or perhaps a culture that condones it. But even with more police, fare evasion is up in NYC.

A behavioral scientist says New York needs a different solution.

Fare Evasion

Our story starts in the UK. Home to a Nudge squad, the British government looked to behavioral economics for some policy insight. They believe that the structure within which people make decisions–their choice architecture–shapes how they think.  They tell us that a default for a health plan attracts more people. Car dealerships create option packages because it is easier for people to choose them. And, when the Nudge Squad had too many tax “procrastinators,” they sent a letter that said, “The great majority of people in your local area pay their tax on time…”

And it worked.

Similarly, behavioral scientists suggest that it could be wiser to focus on the good behavior of the fare payers rather than the evaders. At Australia’s Monash University, they asked why people evade fares. The answers took them to:

1. accidental (Never do it. Just happened.)
2. unintentional (Hassled from a situation like no ticket from machine.)
3. deliberate (Does it whenever the tradeoff makes sense.)

Example of #2, Unintentional:

Knowing more about the evaders lets policy makers target each group. So they sought to make ticketing easier and less complex for the first two groups. But also, they wanted less acceptance of the deliberate evaders. That meant replacing an emphasis on punishment with a condemnation of the fare evaders. It required complimenting the payers, emphasizing honesty, and calling farebeaters cheats and freeloaders.

Our Bottom Line: Social Norms

We could say that social norms are our society’s glue. Determining what we expect from ourselves and others, as a common bond, they shape our behavior. With fare evasion, acceptance erodes the social norm of honesty. Calling the evades freeloaders and cheats creates a support for a social norm that will encourage the behavior that preserves it.

Or, as one social scientist said, “if everyone else is doing it, it’s probably okay for me to do it as well.”

My sources and more: Yesterday’s WSJ alerted me to the fare evasion studies. From there, hoping to learn more about the solutions, I went to The Atlantic and Monash University study.

Ideal for the classroom, econlife.com reflects Elaine Schwartz’s work as a teacher and a writer. As a teacher at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she’s been an Endowed Chair in Economics and chaired the history department. She’s developed curricula, was a featured teacher in the Annenberg/CPB video project “The Economics Classroom,” and has written several books including Econ 101 ½ (Avon Books/Harper Collins). You can get econlife on a daily basis! Head to econlife.

Educational Field Trips by Mike Siekkinen

I love a good field trip! My students do also. The chance to leave school for the day and visit somewhere, anywhere, can be a really fun and educational time for students and teachers. I have been my school’s “field trip guy” for many years now. I take my classes (team) on field trips at least once a quarter. When I first started this many years ago, I was told this was difficult, dangerous and expensive. With proper planning and research, field trips are high points of the year for all of us.

First, choose a place that can relate to your curriculum. If you are a biology teacher this may be a national park, a zoo, or a museum. For history, look around your area for historical sites or perhaps even in your home town. Many of these sites can be free for educational groups or very reasonable. I use a local military base, local historical sites, state parks and also cultural celebrations in the local area. 

Most of my trips, I only have to pay for transportation. I fund my field trips (as my district has no funding for field trips) by student donations. I have also been blessed to receive the Target Field Trip Grant a number of years ($700 per year). My field trips are always linked to instruction. For instance, I visit Okefenokee State Wildlife refuge. I link this to standards we have to teach in science, history and we always include writing assignments and research before and after each field trip as well as we finds a way to work in mathematics. Most school systems have some procedure and required paperwork to do before going on a field trip. Ask your principal what the district’s policies are regarding trips. Mine is supportive though I have to find my own money. With good planning, field trips are a great way to get students and teachers out of the classroom to show students real life applications to what they learned at school!

Dr. Mike Siekkinen, a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became a teacher as a second career. He teaches history at St Marys Middle School as well as Adult and Career Education at Valdosta State in Georgia.