A viral video circulating on social networks once again highlighted a recurring practice in Bogotá’s mass transportation system: the avoidance of payment in TransMilenio.
In the images, a woman is seen allowing several users to enter irregularly into a station on the Las Americas trunk line, without validating the ticket.
The audiovisual record shows how the woman opens a door intended exclusively for people with disabilities, allowing entire groups of passengers to enter. On the other side of the access, another person would receive the money for the irregular entry, configuring what the authorities have classified as illegal sale of tickets.
In one of the most striking moments of the video, the woman lets six people enter in a row, while minutes later another five enter under the same mechanism. The material even reveals a man who tries to negotiate his entry, but ultimately fails to sneak into the system.
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After the video went viral, TransMilenio confirmed that the woman is fully identified and that it is not an isolated incident.
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According to the company, the person involved is a repeat offender and had already been the subject of two previous interventions, in which irregularly used cards were seized and she was transferred to a Protection Transfer Center (CTP).
The events were recorded at the San Façon station, where five interventions have been carried out so far this year, with a balance of 18 cards seized, six offenders identified, seven summonses and four transfers to CTP. At this point in the system, the woman in the video is linked to two previous actions.
According to the National Code of Security and Citizen Coexistence, entering the system without paying constitutes an infraction punishable by a fine of $189,800 pesos, in addition to other measures, depending on the procedure applied.
The company reiterated that these practices affect the safety, sustainability and operation of the system, and stressed that the informal sale of tickets puts users at risk by not having official validation within the Integrated Public Transportation System.
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