Data reveals thousands of fare evaders escape fines Thousands of people escaped a fine despite being caught on public transport without a ticket last year, new figures show. ALMOST 22,000 people escaped a fine despite being caught on public transport without a ticket last year, new figures show. Commuters have more than a one in 10 chance of avoiding the $207 fine, according to statistics obtained by the Greens. Greens leader Greg Barber said the figures showed the State Government's no excuses campaign to target fare evasion was "misleading." Ticket inspectors issued 188,566 infringement notices in 2011-12 and 21,674 of those were withdrawn. Most commuters - 17,152 - received an official warning, while 591 people had the fine completely withdrawn after an internal review. Another 2417 fines were quashed after being challenged in the infringements court. Mr Barber said Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder's "get tough, no excuses" line on fare evasion was "hollow." Ticket inspectors sometimes get it wrong. Special circumstances sometimes apply and the courts form their own view. That's why 11.5 per cent of all tickets aren't enforced - a pretty poor hit rate by any standards," Mr Barber said in a statement. There were twenty thousand valid excuses, all while the 'no excuses' advertising campaign was screaming along. This is consistent with previous years. Ticket inspectors are not getting any more reliable. He said it was a waste of money for the Department of Transport to front the magistrate's and children's court 779 times and lose 20 per cent of the time. If people don't have a ticket, why not sell them one? It would be cheaper and friendlier to put a conductor on every tram and staff on train stations to sell tickets," Mr Barber said. Mr Mulder has previously said fare evasion costs taxpayers about $80 million a year. "We expect everyone to travel with a valid ticket and those caught fare evading risk receiving a fine," Mr Mulder told the Herald Sun in December. We are serious about tackling fare evasion.