This study examines if there is any social stigma associated with ticket-controls in Stockholm's subway. We used a survey-based model that measures the willingness to pay for a subway card given different types and number of ticket-controls. By comparing the willingness to pay between the different scenarios we obtained the perceived social stigma in local currency (SEK). Our main result is an increase in the willingness to pay for a subway card of SEK 612 per year when controls are associated with social stigma. However, already fare evading respondents do not react as heavily to social stigma as non-fare evaders. These finding suggest that investing in more stigmatizing ticket controls is not preferable since fare evaders will not be affected by it.
social stigma; fare evasion; free-rider problem; public transport; social norms