Some entitled commuters think they could get away with anything.

This man noticed a stampede of fare evaders trying to get out of the next station upon seeing a ticket inspector. So he used his knowledge of the platform to make sure they don’t get away with with rude behavior.

Read the full story below for more details.

Fare evaders should probably be more polite.

My city has a decent commuter rail system. I live near the first stop coming from downtown on a line that goes to a suburb that is home to a ton of Uber Eats/DoorDash gig workers.

They ride the train in, work in the city, and then ride the train back.

The rail operator has had to add multiple “bike cars” as a result, train cars where the lower level is almost entirely for bikes.

In general, a lot of them do not behave particularly well on the trains, and they are notorious for never paying their fare, which is done by tapping a fare card on readers set up throughout all the stations.

The fare dodgers think they could outwit the ticket inspector.

I am riding home one day and happen to be on one of the bike cars, filled to capacity with e-bikes and their (very loud) owners.

As we are approaching my station, there is a sudden stampede toward me from the far end of the car, dozens of young men, all yelling and pushing, frantically moving toward the back of the car because a fare inspector has appeared, and they are running from her.

They start shoving and jostling those of us waiting at the door, and their plan becomes apparent: they are going to jump out at the station, tap their fare cards, and get back on with a technically valid ticket.

And as they are shoving me, I decide to make it a bit harder.

What they do not know is that there are only two fare readers on the part of the platform where we are stopping, and the closest one has been down for days.

But they had another thing coming.

The doors open. As they all crash toward the near one, I walk directly to the slightly further one, and I put it into “override mode.”

This gives the option to override pre-set fares for frequent trips, plus some other options, and it takes the card reader itself offline until you pick a mode. It is not often used, and most people are not familiar with it.

It is just a couple of button presses to turn it off, but you have to read the screen and pay attention.

The pack comes roaring over to the machine, still yelling and pushing. But because they are all jamming their cards at it at once and fighting for position, no one even comes close to figuring out why it is not working.

This commuter taught them all a lesson.

Not one of them manages to tap successfully. And after about 15–20 seconds of this, the train is getting ready to leave.

Most of them give up and run back on, straight into the arms of the waiting fare inspector, because they cannot leave their e-bikes.

But seven or eight do not make it back. The train pulls away as they start chasing it down the platform, still screaming.

I like to think their bikes ride that train forever.

Those riders wouldn’t be taking any chances on fare evasion anytime soon.

Let’s read what other people have to say about this.

This one likes the storytelling.

A witty retort.

People are commending what he did.

Another user chimes in.

And this one has something to say.

Trying to outsmart the train system can backfire on you massively.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.