Swedish social movement shows transit users how to get on for free, to protest high fares
Public transit fares in Stockholm, Sweden have risen significantly over the past 10 years. Now, social activists are fighting back. Their group is called Planka, which roughly translates to "dodge the fare now". It encourages transit riders to break the law, showing them how to get a free ride without paying, and even providing an insurance policy of sorts if they get caught and are fined.
"Most of us [in the group] have had the experience of trying to make ends meet and dodging the fare," Christian Tengblad tells As It Happens host Carol Off. "It was something individual, it was something that you might be ashamed of, but we thought we would have some power here if we did it together. That's the main reason why we started the fund."
Here's how their fund works: each member of Planka pays 100 kroner a month (about $19 Cdn.) for a type of insurance against the 1200 kroner (about $230 Cdn.) fine if they are caught.
It costs about $35 a week for a transit pass in Stockholm.
"We believe that public transportation is the basis of living in a big city like Stockholm, so that's something that needs to be accessible to people, no matter what their economic situation is," says Tengblad.
"As long as we have this unjust system... we'll keep protesting and resisting it."
The movement has lost a number of members recently after hitting membership highs of 600.
Tengblad believes this is because a number of ticket controllers now turn a blind eye to fare dodgers because of the popularity of the movement, so its former members see the risk of being fined as minimal.
But why does Planka advocate breaking the law to make its point for a zero-fare public transit system?
"It's not enough to have a really good argument, you also have to have strength in numbers," he says.
Here is one of Planka's videos demonstrating how to dodge a transit fare in Stockholm: