<i> It was my understanding then that this ticket is not entered in the validator machine.</i>

That is incorrect. You are required to validate your ticket whenever you board. That is why you will see the <i>Je monte, je valide</i> signs displayed at the head of the bus. Validating also informs the driver, if he happens to be paying attention, that you have boarded the bus with an appropriate fare.

<i>Same where we live in San Francisco on the Muni buses - except it is a higher %.
</i>

How do you know since holders of paper transfers can also board in the back of the bus?

Back in the days when the machines punched the tickets, you were not supposed to validate these tickets more than once. Now that they only read the magnetic strip, you insert them every time.

I think the person with a paper transfer is required to board from the front of the bus and show the transfer to the driver. That's what I did before I had a Clipper card. I assume anyone with an expired transfer or doesn't want to pay, will board from the back and just walk past the "machine". As you know, there are frequent stories in the Chron about people boarding Muni without paying.

Stu Dudley

Oops - I just read the Muni rules. People with paper transfers can board any door.

Stu Dudley

Thanks to travel forums, guide books, advancing age and fear of pickpockets, more tourists are taking the bus than ever before - though they don't always enjoy the carefree experience that has been described, especially when the bus is driven by a homicidal maniac caught in heavy traffic, which is often the case.

However...
The best times to board the bus without paying are during morning and evening rush hours and when school gets out, especially on the most popular routes along boulevard Saint-Germain, Invalides, Saint-Paul, ligne 96 and the ever-popular tourist lignes 69 and 76. Every single time I take one of these buses, I see people board without paying, and without blinking an eye. Sometimes the driver activates the "shame button" that kerouac mentioned, but nothing happens.

All you do is look for a crowded bus and enter via the back door. Many locals do it (even "upstanding Parisian senior citizens"), most tourists seem confused (because the bus is crowded, they can't push to the front to validate) so they do what everybody else does, which is nothing. Well, sometimes they giggle about it, but most don't seem too worried about getting caught.

During these peak hours, it would be insane for ticket agents to even attempt to board the bus - let alone issue fines - and everyone seems to know this. Only the "bendy bus" has a validation machine at the back door, which is not the majority of them. I've heard that newer buses will have validation machines at each door, though.

I absolutely do not recommend trying to ride for free, and I validate my yearly Navigo pass each and every time I board any form of public transport. I have been "controlled" on several bus lines, and have seen many people (tourists and locals) making a big scene about getting fined - but not me. Pay attention to my OP and you'll be OK, too.

Why are people talking about transport systems in other cities when I specifically mentioned the crackdown in Paris???

<i> especially when the bus is driven by a homicidal maniac caught in heavy traffic</i>

Homicidal because he is brandishing a knife? Because in heavy Paris traffic, a bus is more likely to crawl along rather than go at speeds that are dangerous.

Was discussing with someone who told me that since I was traveling a lot I was flying as I was taking a bus.

I never take the bus. I hate buses. It goes slower than a cycle. It gets stuck in traffic. It is indeed driven by maniacs.

Just took the Link Light Rail from downtown Seattle out to the Sea-Tac airport. Left the boarding stop around 5:15 AM and at the very next stop two "fare enforcement" workers got on and checked every ticket. So much for getting away with anything before daylight.

How do I send you a PM?

Dale, there is no way to send a PM on Fodors. If you're on TA, though, you can.

You can't send PMs to those of us who have been banned from TA : )
Looks like we'll have to "triangulate" and ask someone from Fodor's to bounce it around.
Dale, I got your address, but it bounced back. Could you check it and resend to the Fodorite you contacted?

Unfortunately, Fodors does not have a poster to poster contact method. A workable alternative would be to use a disposable email address from a free service like Mailinator. Any email address you posted here would only last long enough for two posters to make contact and then the address is gone. No spam threat at all.

Did I mention it is free:

https://www.mailinator.com/

I have been frequently posting my e-mail address on Fodors for over a decade. I get about 2-5 spam e-mails a day - which is manageable for me.

Stu Dudley

I have taken a bus many times in Paris. There have been two occasions that I recall when I put in a T+ ticket in the machine to validate and nothing happened. Once a lady gave me the evil eye for some time as she must have not seen my attempt. But I kept my ticket handy in case anyone wanted me to prove that I had one.

Is it possible that you had gone past the time allotted (90 mins) for your trip? Or your ticket might have been rejected if you were making a transfer that wasn't permitted (you can only go in the same direction, can't take the same bus more than once or backtrack). Or maybe the machine wasn't working.

If this happens, you should speak to the driver immediately, who will either mark your ticket in some way (sometimes he just folds a corner or tears it) or give you a replacement ticket. Otherwise, you were stuck holding an unvalidated ticket, and would have been subject to a fine if caught.

Sometimes a ticket is also simply demagnetized (?) and you just have to go to a booth and have it exchanged.