TTC to ask bus riders for proof of payment as it expands crackdown on fare evasion

Transit riders may see fare inspectors on bus platforms starting Monday as the TTC expands efforts to curb fare evasion.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green says transit riders may be asked for proof of payment after they get off buses and before they go into the subway stations. 

That means riders will be required to show their Presto cards, debit or credit cards, iPhone or watches, to prove they have paid.

Fare inspectors will be in uniform and wearing body-worn cameras.

"We really have to get serious about fare inspection, make sure everyone is paying their fare," Green told a reporter at TTC's Keele Station. 

Riders who have not paid their fare could be fined anywhere $235 to $425, depending on the nature of the evasion, but for the first two weeks of fare inspections on bus platforms, Green says the focus will be on education.

Bus riders will be given an opportunity to pay if they haven't already for the first two weeks as a grace period, Green says. Real enforcement will follow after that, he says.

Using a child TTC card when a rider is an adult, for example, is considered fraud and that would warrant a $425 fine. Simply not tapping a Presto card could result in a $235 fine.

Green says fare evasion costs the TTC about $140 million a year, which he described as a "huge" amount that could be used to improve service, enhance station cleanliness and safety, and keep fares low.

"That's money that we need to recover," Green said. "We rely heavily on the fare box to fund the service."

About 40 per cent of the TTC's revenue comes from the fare box, he says.

Green says this latest expansion of the TTC's crackdown on fare evasion is the third such move in the past several months. The TTC has begun to close "no-tap" fare gates at subway stations, and in December, it introduced plainclothes fare inspectors. Inspections are already being carried out at subway stations and on streetcars.

The TTC is hiring 55 new fare inspectors this year, he says.

In a news release, the TTC says fare inspectors will use discretion to ensure, if they issue tickets to riders for not paying, that they are issued fairly.

Transit riders had mixed views on Monday on the expansion of fare evasion efforts.

"I think it's long overdue. I mean I watch multiple people daily not pay. I'm sure some of them actually have a transfer," Doug McMasters said at Keele Station.

 "If they see an inspector, you see them, all of a sudden, go over and tap. You've got to keep the TTC running. I use it everyday to get where I'm going. And if people don't pay, then I'm going to have a problem getting to where I'm going. Let's stop losing the funds."

Karin Meinzer, a former volunteer with the transit advocacy group TTCriders, says fare inspection in general is problematic. Greater efforts should be made by governments to ensure low income people are able to use transit, she says.

"We need to keep rolling out supports for people to be able to access transit who are the poorest among us. I think, ultimately, transit should be free for certain people, potentially for all of us, but certainly for people who really cannot afford it. If you don't have transit, you can't do anything," Meinzer said.