Spector smartphone app helps you dodge the ticket inspector

Picture: Bianca De Marchi Source: AdelaideNow

A NEW Australian-made smartphone app that could potentially help public transport fare evaders and vandals avoid ticket inspectors has been condemned by transport authorities.

Launched this week. the free "Spector" app invites users to flag by GPS the location of ticket inspectors they see patrolling trams, trains or buses to alert passengers to their presence in real time.

Users in all cities can tag inspectors as either "uniformed" or "plain clothed", and can specify whether they are on a vehicle or at a station or stop. All tags remain visible on the map for 20 minutes.

Melbourne designer George McKibbin, 24, who developed Spector in partnership with Victorian software company Guanxi3, said the app was not intended to encourage fare evasion or criminal activity, but to increase passenger safety.

"We're primarily focusing on safety and commuter enjoyment. You can also tag angry or drunk or threatening commuters so people can avoid those trams or buses," he said.

"There are apps out there for tagging speed cameras, which has much more destructive possibilities. People can get killed. We don't do anything as destructive as that. We're actually making transport a better experience for all involved."

Mr McKibbin said the app had been downloaded about 3000 times in its first few days of release, and more than 100 inspectors had been tagged in a sample hour ont Thursday.

A spokesperson for Transport NSW said anything that encouraged fare evasion was a serious concern.

"Transport for NSW strongly discourages fare evasion and reminds customers it is illegal to travel on public transport without the appropriate ticket," they said.

"Customers caught travelling without a valid ticket run the risk of being issued with an on-the-spot fine."

South Australian Police warned fare evaders or vandals using the Spector app could still be caught.

"Fare evaders and other public transport offenders may be picked up by CCTV, undercover and plain clothes police, Passenger Service Assistants, random ticket checks and electronic turnstiles," a spokesperson said.

Mr McKibbin said while Spector could potentially encourage fare evasion, he could not be held responsible for how people chose to use the app.

"I don't think Spector will increase or decrease fare evasion. It will just make it a more comfortable experience for all commuters. It's up to the consumer how they use the app," he said.

"We think that if it did encourage any bad behaviour, that would be outweighed by the positive benefits to be safer on public transport."