Fare inspection teams POP up on streetcars
Failing to show proof of payment on the TTC could lead to a minimum fine of $235
As soon as they catch sight of the yellow-jacketed fare inspectors on the Bathurst Station platform, riders exiting the streetcar reach in their pockets and purses.
Some flash a transfer or Metropass directly in front of inspector Rajbir Kahlon’s face. The odd person slinks past him, believing they haven’t been noticed.
On Friday morning, two elderly women, one leaning on a cane, rummage deep in their pockets for the proof they paid their fares.
Only one man, when confronted directly, refuses to show a receipt or pass.
Kahlon, one of about 50 TTC fare inspectors — another 20 will be hired this year — patiently explains that streetcar riders must now prove they have paid.
Failing to show proof can mean a minimum fine of $235.
The man, who wears a Raptors toque, tells the inspector he would simply throw away a ticket. Kahlon lets him walk away.
The TTC is still in the education phase of its new proof-of-payment (POP) policy on streetcars. The Raptors fan pauses at the station door to shout at a bus driver across the platform and then goes inside where he blocks a stairwell while talking loudly on his phone.
“I could be a cowboy,” said Kahlon, 28. “But you attract more bees with honey. That’s my approach.”
The TTC has allowed riders to board through all the doors on four of its 11 streetcar routes, including Spadina, for over a year. It was a long-held practice on Queen St.
But last month, it introduced all-door-boarding along with POP on all streetcar routes.
In only a month most riders have learned to keep their pass, or the transfer that acts as their receipt, handy as proof of payment for inspectors, who do spot checks at station platforms and ride the streetcars, says Kahlon’s partner, Laura Leis, 30. Inspectors also carry handheld devices to check that Presto card users have paid.
Sometimes people are annoyed at being asked to produce their receipt or pass. But many riders welcome the inspections, she said.
“There are people who spend $141 a month. To spend that much on a pass and then see people not pay . . . There are people happy to see us,” she said.
Everyone should pay their fare in off-rush periods, said Bathurst car rider Adam Bailey. But when the streetcars are jammed and people have to board through the back door just to get on and get to work, they can’t always make their way to the fare box at the front.
“On Queen West in the morning rush hour you can’t use the front of the streetcar if you can get on the streetcar at all. So people have to hop on the back,” he said.
There are times when it’s easy to forget to grab a transfer at a subway station, he said. But because Bailey used the Spadina streetcar, which has been POP since 2014, he became accustomed to taking a transfer.
“If you’re at the secondary entrance at St. Clair West I find it’s easier just to run down that long escalator to get on your train and forget the transfer at the top of the stairs. I’ve had to (go back) a couple of times,” he said.
Like most transit agencies, the TTC targets a 2-per-cent ceiling on fare evasion.
It was probably nearly double that on streetcars before the inspection teams ramped up, said Nick Milhomens, supervisor of fare inspection.
“Just our mere presence out there has probably dropped fare evasion about 2 per cent,” he said.
“Typically you want to be able to inspect 4 to 5 per cent of your ridership. We’re going to see if with that number (of inspectors) we can reach that target. We don’t want to over-inspect but we don’t want to under-inspect. There’s kind of that sweet spot you’re looking for,” said Mark Cousins, head of Transit Enforcement.
The emphasis is on education, particularly on the newly added POP routes.
“The vast, vast majority of people pay their fares. They comply with the rules and regulations of the TTC. But in order to have a system that has some integrity to it, you have to build in some sort of fare inspection process,” said Cousins.
Kahlon sees his fare enforcement role as a customer service position.
“Because we live in such a vast city there are some people (for whom) it is $3.25 for a loaf of bread or it’s going on the streetcar. Everybody has a story. You need to take a moment and listen to it. We’re not out here to be nailing everybody giving tickets. That’s not what we’re about. Our focus at the TTC is to get people from Point A to Point B.”