Going Incognito in Yekaterinburg's Public Transport: The Hidden Revenue Drain
Spent an entire day in crowded buses and discovered the extent of financial loss the city experienced due to transportation reform.
Yekaterinburg's transport reform, in full swing since February 1, 2025, switches transit operators to gross-based contracts, while tramways, trolleys, and buses gradually phase out conductors. This reformation brings about a massive change, as operators are now paid based on the distance traveled, rather than depending on passenger counts. Formerly, drivers received part of the fare revenue. Now, all fare revenue directly goes straight to the city budget, with drivers receiving a fixed salary instead. The introduction of contactless fare systems andvalidators significantly reduces the need for conductors, allowing passengers to avoid ticket checks. This, in turn, leads to fewer passengers paying for their rides, resulting in revenue loss for the city.
To tackle this issue, a City Transport Management Center has been established, with numerous controllers on staff. Beginning in April 2025, they have identified approximately 2,500 fare evaders. Soon these culprits will face fines of up to 2,500 rubles each.
Curious about the scope of this financial drag, our team at oursite.RU sent reporter Alina Khitaringova on a two-day tour of all modes of land-based public transport, tasked with:
- Quantifying the number of passengers evading payment.
- Assessing drivers' reactions to these culprits.
The Expedition Report
I started my exploration on day one, focusing on private transit operators.
Around noon, I boarded bus No.52. The vehicle was crowded, the air stuffy and hot. Windows were closed, and the condensor, if it even existed, was clearly malfunctioning. I muscled my way through the throng to find a validator, but it proved to be a challenge.
Fifteen more people joined aboard, including a young man with earbuds who casually walked past the validator without a second glance, and a babysitter who paid for every child's "E-card" ticket at the terminal. Two groups of students engrossed in their phones just brushed past the payment kiosk without glancing back.
The bus was more cramped after a 20-minute ride, yet the driver made no mention of the missing fare payments. I remembered back to half a year ago when they would constantly yell about it at every stop. Now, it seemed their concerns had vanished.
My next stop was bus No.89. Once again, the air quality was poor, and passengers were huddled together. A woman in an orange vest labeled "Controller" walked through the bus: "Fares, please!" This method proved effective. I counted: out of 35 passengers, only two had not paid. One claimed he had paid via QR code, while the other said he already had. It was decided to let them off without further investigation.
For my third test, I chose bus route No.45. The ride was less crowded during the day. We traveled from the Yeltsin Center to "Rainbow Park." Over the journey, several dozen passengers embarked, although access to the validator was clear. A quarter of them, however, failed to pay for their ride. The driver paid no attention to this oversight throughout the 25-minute journey.
On day two, I switched to municipal transportation, including trams and trolley buses. In the vehicles that still had conductors, a significantly different scene unfolded. A woman in a bright vest with an intimidating gaze patrolled each aisle, ensuring that all passengers had tapped their cards. She took notice when distracted passengers and loudly reminded them to pay.
In the six tram cars and trolley bus I checked, the number of fare evaders was noticeably lower in the presence of conductors. However, on trolley buses operating on one of the central routes without conductors, the situation was the opposite. I boarded a trolleybus with a long-overdue ventilation system. There was no sign of the condensor even though the vehicle was brand new. After squeezing my way to a validator, I paid for the journey and tucked the receipt in my purse.
The ride lasted 30 minutes. Out of the 50 passengers, only 37 approached the payment kiosk. Most pretended not to notice the issue, some attempted to pay via QR code, but with inconsistent success—shaky cameras in smartphones made focusing difficult. One 25-year-old finally surrendered and settled calmly into his seat.
My next stop was bus No.25. I attempted to get close to the validator near the door, but a group of schoolchildren rushed aboard. One boy with a red cap glanced furtively at the validator, a companion whispered, "It's not working, I ride this bus every day." All four ignored the fare kiosk and took seats. A girl with a baby in a stroller pulled out her phone to scan the QR code, but struggled initially. Eventually, she managed and paid the fare. In this bus, out of 45 passengers, 15 traveled without valid tickets.
Over the course of these two days, I traveled in six different vehicles and encountered 300 passengers. Forty of them did not even attempt to pay for their ride. Drivers now seem genuinely disinterested in fare evaders, but the situation drastically improves where conductors are present.
Conclusions
Based on our calculations, around 9% of passengers travel without paying. According to city officials, the issue is even more severe, with approximately 15-20% of passengers foregoing payment in Yekaterinburg's public transportation.
We obtained these figures using passenger traffic data from 2024. In that year, the city's public transportation was utilized by 268 million passengers. With our mathematic proportions, we calculated that 9% fare evaders equate to 24.1 million passengers, 15% to 40.2 million passengers, and 20% to 53.6 million passengers.
Due to the various pricing structures in the city, the cost of a fare varies depending on the fare payment method (QR code or cash/bank card) and the category of the "E-card" (pensioner, student, etc.). We used the universal fare of 33 rubles for our calculations.
Our calculations show that, due to fare evaders who are increasingly ignored after the transport reform's implementation, the city budget loses a minimum of 796 million rubles each year. If we use the city officials' data, the losses are even more substantial: between 1.33 and 1.8 billion rubles.
City officials acknowledge the issue. They insist that people are not deliberately avoiding payment, as explained to oursite.RU by the city press office.
"A habit has formed - the conductor is expected to appear with the terminal and issue a ticket. If a person boards and sits down, he has a lower likelihood of paying for the ride," they explained the issue.
City officials plan to resolve this problem by deploying "promoter" controllers. They expect that fare evaders will begin to face real fines once these changes take effect "very soon."
- The change in Yekaterinburg's public transport system, with the removal of conductors, has resulted in a significant loss for the city as passengers evade paying fares.
- In a two-day study by the team at oursite.RU, it was found that around 9% of passengers travel without paying, equating to a potential loss of 796 million rubles per year for the city budget.
- City officials acknowledge the issue and believe that the loss is due to a formed habit, with passengers less likely to pay when no conductor is present.
- To address this issue, city officials plan to deploy "promoter" controllers who will enforce fare payments and issue fines to fare evaders, aiming to reduce revenue loss in Yekaterinburg's public transportation industry.
