Fare strike

A fare strike is a direct action in which people in a city with a public transit system carry out mass fare evasion. Jumping turnstiles, boarding buses through the back or very quickly through the front, and leaving doors open in subway stations are all tactics by which people can participate. Often, fare strikes are used against fare hikes and service cuts, but they also seek to organize working class solidarity between riders and drivers, often in the hopes that struggles around transportation will spread to broader anti-capitalist action.

Notable fare strikes have occurred in France, Italy, and parts of Latin America. More recently Midwest Unrest organized one in Chicago. In 2005 a coalition of groups including Fare Strike, Social Strike, SF Day Laborers and other community groups helped foment a fare strike in San Francisco, accounts of which are available at [http://farestrike.org FareStrike.org]

According to Bay Area left communist Kevin Keating, the 2005 San Francisco attempt at a fare strike was largely a failure. (http://www.infoshop.org/myep/muni_social_strikeout.html)

In the UK, there was a fare strike on First Great Western in Jan 07, and there is also to be one on 28th Jan 08.