TTC board approves undercover fare inspectors at year-end meeting

The TTC board approved a recommendation to use undercover fare inspectors on streetcars at its last meeting of the year, as the transit commission moves to clamp down on fare evaders.

Those free rides cost the TTC about $20 million in lost revenue per year, according to the board.

"And what we're finding is, a lot of folks are waiting to see if they see a fare inspector, and then they're tapping their Presto cards," TTC Chief Special Constable Mark Cousins said. "We just want to put people out on the system that are in an undercover capacity for observation only."

Those undercover inspectors, called transit enforcement officers, could then notify uniformed fare inspectors about passengers who haven't paid.

Special constables wearing plain clothes have been tried before, TTC spokesman Brad Ross confirmed, but only as a temporary measure during certain hours on the Queen streetcar line.

Now, with all streetcar lines operating on a proof-of-payment model, Ross said the transit agency needs inspectors "that we can spread out across the entire network."

New traffic powers for TTC special constables

The TTC is also seeking to give its special constables the ability to tag and tow vehicles that are blocking buses and streetcars, and perform traffic direction duties when roads are blocked.

Vehicles blocking transit traffic are a major issue for the TTC, Cousins said.

"It's especially significant during both planned and unplanned closures," explained Cousins, and has a particularly negative impact on shuttle bus services.

The move would have to be approved by the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ministry of Community Safety, Cousins said. He thinks that could happen by next spring  good timing because renewed construction tends to lead to more subway closures, he said.

Presto problems

TTC CEO Andy Byford also commented on the problematic rollout of the Presto payment system.

"Just as we promised, by the end of this year, all TTC vehicles and at least one station entrance will be fitted with Presto equipment by the end of December," Byford said.

"It's kind of frustrating for me that the TTC gets the blame for Presto when, actually, we're reliant on our suppliers to give us that equipment, but we're not going to hide behind that," Byford said. "We've just got to suck it up. Our customers contract is with us, as the transit provider it's for us to manage our suppliers and we're doing exactly that."