The Little Red Honesty Box
The Little Red Honesty Box: GVVT Bridgeton Bus Garage Glasgow
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History #
The box was designed for peak hour commuter rushes when a conductor simply couldn’t make it up and down the gangways or stairs before passengers reached their stops. Instead of letting passengers alight without paying, or risking passengers missing their stop while waiting for the conductor, management installed these small boxes on the bulkhead or near the platform. The notice on the front clearly instructed passengers: PLEASE PLACE UNCOLLECTED FARES IN THIS BOX.
I’ve used many buses and trams over my many years and I have never seen a little red box. My theory is that the conductors were all super fit in those days and could race up and down the stairs collecting fares before any passenger could settle down to continue their journey.
To protect conductors from accusations of accounting discrepancies or fare skimming, the internal notices stated:
The boxes are emptied weekly, and the amount collected is not therefore related to a particular conductor.
While the concept of an honesty box was tested by various transport operators across the UK from the 1920s through the post-war period, Glasgow Corporation Transport (GCT) was one of its most famous and long-standing proponents.