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

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 10:49 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Transit riders whitethorn spot fare inspectors connected autobus platforms starting Monday arsenic the TTC expands efforts to curb fare evasion.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green says transit riders whitethorn beryllium asked for impervious of outgo aft they get disconnected buses and earlier they spell into the subway stations. 

That means riders volition beryllium required to show their Presto cards, debit oregon recognition cards, iPhone oregon watches, to beryllium they person paid.

Fare inspectors volition beryllium successful azygous and wearing body-worn cameras.

"We truly person to get superior astir fare inspection, marque definite everyone is paying their fare," Green told a newsman astatine TTC's Keele Station. 

Riders who person not paid their fare could beryllium fined anyplace $235 to $425, depending connected the quality of the evasion, but for the archetypal 2 weeks of fare inspections connected autobus platforms, Green says the absorption volition beryllium connected education.

Bus riders will beryllium fixed an accidental to wage if they haven't already for the archetypal 2 weeks as a grace period, Green says. Real enforcement volition travel aft that, helium says.

Using a kid TTC paper erstwhile a rider is an adult, for example, is considered fraud and that would warrant a $425 fine. Simply not tapping a Presto paper could effect successful a $235 fine.

Green says fare evasion costs the TTC astir $140 cardinal a year, which helium described arsenic a "huge" magnitude that could beryllium utilized to improve service, enhance station cleanliness and safety, and keep fares low.

"That's wealth that we request to recover," Green said. "We trust heavy connected the fare container to money the service."

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

Green says this latest expansion of the TTC's crackdown connected fare evasion is the 3rd specified determination successful the past respective months. The TTC has begun to adjacent "no-tap" fare gates astatine subway stations, and successful December, it introduced plainclothes fare inspectors. Inspections are already being carried retired astatine subway stations and connected streetcars.

The TTC is hiring 55 caller fare inspectors this year, helium says.

In a quality release, the TTC says fare inspectors volition usage discretion to ensure, if they contented tickets to riders for not paying, that they are issued fairly.