M II A II R II K
Senior Member
TTC targets farebox cheaters
Mar 17 2011
By Tess Kalinowski
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/955909--ttc-targets-farebox-cheaters
Cheaters with invalid transfers. Evaders who enter the streetcar’s back door without a pass. They anger honest riders and, along with other transit tricksters, bilked the TTC out of more than $22 million in fares last year — double the 2009 rate. In response, the TTC has launched Fare is Fair, a program meant to cut those losses, even though the agency doesn’t exactly know why fare evasion is on the rise. The plan calls for all on-duty transit enforcement officers to monitor turnstiles, crash gates and bus and streetcar platforms during the morning and afternoon rush. The move points to the challenges the system will face when its new, larger streetcars begin running in 2013 and all 11 downtown routes move to back-door boarding and a proof-of-payment (POP) system similar to that on GO Transit. GO has a smaller and generally higher-income clientele, but it lost only about $2 million last year to fare evasion.
On the new streetcars, drivers will sit in a closed cab and won’t collect fares and transfers. A draft report says the TTC lost about $16.6 million last year to the growing practice of passing invalid transfers. It lost a further $1.2 million from cheaters on the Queen streetcar’s POP system. Whether the TTC keeps its complicated, one-way paper transfer system or moves to timed transfers will be decided as it proceeds to build an electronic payment system. It’s a complex task, says chief general manager Gary Webster. TTC-style transfers are widely misunderstood by the public, but operators usually know at a glance if they are valid, he said. The problem is, they can’t always hold the bus to inspect every transfer or confront a cheater.
“Good enforcement isn’t blind application of your policy,†said Webster, who stresses that increased education and awareness are also critical to the success of Fare is Fair. Before an enforcement officer writes up a ticket ($195 plus $20 in court costs), he or she will make allowances for a tourist unfamiliar with the system, or someone who inadvertently took a circuitous route. Paper transfers are numbered with the date and direction of the route. They are cut to different lengths depending on when the vehicle leaves its original station. “It’s a system that works. It’s been around forever. We’ll have to see if an electronic system will make that easier,†said Webster.
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Fare evasion by the numbers
In 2010, the TTC lost $22,067,707 to fare evaders. Here are the types of evasions and the number of lost fares.
Lack of valid pass or transfer, 698,827
Illegal entry, 453,506
Invalid transfer, 9,361,095
Metropass used by two unrelated people, 1,228,043
Invalid day pass, 67,456
Foreign money, 658,703
Mar 17 2011
By Tess Kalinowski
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/955909--ttc-targets-farebox-cheaters
Cheaters with invalid transfers. Evaders who enter the streetcar’s back door without a pass. They anger honest riders and, along with other transit tricksters, bilked the TTC out of more than $22 million in fares last year — double the 2009 rate. In response, the TTC has launched Fare is Fair, a program meant to cut those losses, even though the agency doesn’t exactly know why fare evasion is on the rise. The plan calls for all on-duty transit enforcement officers to monitor turnstiles, crash gates and bus and streetcar platforms during the morning and afternoon rush. The move points to the challenges the system will face when its new, larger streetcars begin running in 2013 and all 11 downtown routes move to back-door boarding and a proof-of-payment (POP) system similar to that on GO Transit. GO has a smaller and generally higher-income clientele, but it lost only about $2 million last year to fare evasion.
On the new streetcars, drivers will sit in a closed cab and won’t collect fares and transfers. A draft report says the TTC lost about $16.6 million last year to the growing practice of passing invalid transfers. It lost a further $1.2 million from cheaters on the Queen streetcar’s POP system. Whether the TTC keeps its complicated, one-way paper transfer system or moves to timed transfers will be decided as it proceeds to build an electronic payment system. It’s a complex task, says chief general manager Gary Webster. TTC-style transfers are widely misunderstood by the public, but operators usually know at a glance if they are valid, he said. The problem is, they can’t always hold the bus to inspect every transfer or confront a cheater.
“Good enforcement isn’t blind application of your policy,†said Webster, who stresses that increased education and awareness are also critical to the success of Fare is Fair. Before an enforcement officer writes up a ticket ($195 plus $20 in court costs), he or she will make allowances for a tourist unfamiliar with the system, or someone who inadvertently took a circuitous route. Paper transfers are numbered with the date and direction of the route. They are cut to different lengths depending on when the vehicle leaves its original station. “It’s a system that works. It’s been around forever. We’ll have to see if an electronic system will make that easier,†said Webster.
.....
Fare evasion by the numbers
In 2010, the TTC lost $22,067,707 to fare evaders. Here are the types of evasions and the number of lost fares.
Lack of valid pass or transfer, 698,827
Illegal entry, 453,506
Invalid transfer, 9,361,095
Metropass used by two unrelated people, 1,228,043
Invalid day pass, 67,456
Foreign money, 658,703