>>Otherwise, I'd ignore the ticket.<<

If they wrote down your address in Canada, they will probably send you a "violation" that you can pay on-line. We got a highway speeding ticket 2 weeks ago in the mail & paid it. How many non-French people get tickets every year on the Metro???? If France ignored the non-payers - it might "open the gates" for everyone to ignore paying their tickets. We were also "sited" by the radar for speeding on two other occasions last year, but never received an actual ticket in the mail. We did receive a mail ticket about 3 years ago & paid it.

Stu Dudley

Once, in Italy, we inserted our ticket into the machine, heard it make the noise and we pulled it out. Sure enough, it didn't stamp it. Had to put it in another machine. Am I glad I checked it. We were asked for tickets on board and several people in our area got big fat fines for a variety of mistakes with their tickets. Whewww..we dodged a bullet with that one.

"Once, in Italy, we inserted our ticket into the machine, heard it make the noise and we pulled it out. Sure enough, it didn't stamp it."
The same thing happened to me in Bologna. The machine made its usual noise, I didn't pay attention and boarded the train. I was going to Ferrara, it is a short journey and fortunately I had a return ticket. I was very lucky : the conductor only fined me €4 (the price of the ticket) instead of the usual €44.

I was wondering how they would follow up on it, as they didn't write down my address. They do have my name and drivers licence number, so can they find me from that? I don't know how much information sharing happens between governments.

>> I don't know how much information sharing happens between governments.<<

Probably none for this type of situation. But it's the "probably" that worries me.

There have been a few posts about this in the past on this forum. Nobody knows for sure, but I think kerouac and perhaps Pvoyageuse (who both live in France) speculated that information exchange within France is increasing - just like it has here in the US. Perhaps French immigration control (both in & out of France) at airports will check, or if you ever get stopped by the police in France and asked for your drivers license ??? Or if you rent a car & have to present your license (I doubt this one).

In our case, the car rental company who owned the car/license plate that was ticketed, supplied our name & address to the police - and charged us something like 25E to do so (that's how we know about the 2 occasions when we did not receive an actual ticket).

Stu Dudley

On many metro systems fines are imposed summarily - you give your passport or ID and they keep it until you pay. If Paris doesn't want foreign scofflaws to abuse the system just impose fines right away - make em pay right away.

Hmm. I guess I will take my chances with not paying. I don't actually drive, despite having a license, so I will never rent a car or get pulled over in France. I leave France in less than a week via bus, and have no foreseeable plans to come back in the near or distant future. If I felt I was truly at fault I would pay up no problem, but given the circumstances I will take my chances. If anything results, I will keep people updated, and maybe we can figure out what happens once and for all. I can view it as research rather than fare-dodging. Thanks to everyone who gave input, it's great knowing there are knowledgeable people available if stuff like this comes up!

If they just took your name, I don't think you risk anything if you don't get caught more than once a year without a valid metro ticket. Probably the data base would only set off a red light if you got stopped 3 or 4 times in a short period of time.

However, I still think you should write to the RATP and send them your ticket if you think that you did nothing wrong. The magnetic strip can be decoded and will show when and where the ticket was used, even if the machine did not print the code in ink.