The TTC has a “massive problem” with riders abusing child Presto cards to ride the system for free, and the agency has no immediate plan for how to fix it.

At a meeting of the TTC audit committee Tuesday, agency staff gave a presentation that indicated nearly nine in 10 trips taken using child Presto cards could be a result of “misuse” — adults fraudulently using the cards to take advantage of the TTC’s “kids ride free” policy.

Roughly 6.2 million trips were taken using child cards last year, and that rate of misuse would translate into $12.4 million in lost revenue for the TTC annually, according to agency staff.

The figures were based on Presto data collected over three weeks in January, which showed riders were using the cards that are supposed to be reserved for children 12 and under at unlikely locations and at all times of day, including during class hours, on days schools were closed, and after 9 p.m.

For instance, the third most common site for child card taps over the testing period was York University subway station, where about 4,500 tapped using child cards over three weeks.

York University station is “not likely used by children ages 0-12 who attend nearby schools,” the presentation stated.

A separate presentation discussed Tuesday determined, based on different methodology than the January study, that abuse of child cards accounted for 33.7 per cent of all fare evasion incidents in 2019. That would put the TTC’s losses from the problem at more than $23 million annually. An agency spokesperson said both fraud rate estimates were equally valid.

The numbers detailing the child card fraud come on the heels of an internal audit report released last week that concluded the TTC lost more than $70 million to fare evasion last year, with roughly 5.7 per cent of trips not paid for. The agency is working to address fare evasion by hiring an additional 50 transit officers this year, which would bring its complement of fare inspectors and special constables to 183.

Mayor John Tory led the TTC to adopt the kids ride free policy in 2015, before Presto became the primary way to pay to ride Toronto’s system.

Although children don’t have to pay to ride buses, streetcars or subways, the TTC introduced a child Presto card in part because the only way to open the new fare gates at subway stations is by tapping a card.

Parents can set a child concession on a Presto card by visiting Shoppers Drug Mart locations or TTC customer service outlets. Proof of age is required, but there appears to be little to prevent adults from visiting different locations and setting the concession on multiple cards. Ads for “unlimited” Presto cards have become common on online forums.

That child cards are open to widespread abuse has been known for at least a year. A report released by Toronto auditor general Beverly Romeo-Beehler last February also highlighted the problem, and recommended the TTC work with Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency that oversees Presto, to produce child cards that would look different than adult versions in order to make fraud easier to detect.

Although the TTC has discussed the issue with Metrolinx since then, the two public agencies have yet to develop a solution.

TTC deputy CEO Kirsten Watson said the agency isn’t confident that introducing a visually distinct child card would be effective in deterring fraudsters because transit employees can’t watch every rider tap.

“We don’t necessarily think that’s the silver bullet to this massive problem that we’re seeing,” Watson told the committee.

Instead, the agency is contemplating getting rid of child cards altogether. Doing so would likely require finding a way for children to get through subway Presto gates without a card.

“I don’t want to say that that’s our recommendation,” Watson said of scrapping kids’ cards, “but I certainly think that option remains on the table.”

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Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the provincial agency “is actively investigating” the requirements and costs of introducing a visually distinct child Presto card, as well “alternative approaches” to the problem.

“Metrolinx is fully committed to working in partnership with the TTC to address fare evasion,” she said.

The mayor’s spokesperson Don Peat said that despite the fraud problem, Tory stands by the kids-ride-free policy.

“It helps families, helps keep the city affordable,” Peat said in an email.

He said Tory had “lobbied Metrolinx directly” to come up with a visually distinct child Presto card, “and to improve the overall Presto system.”

Peat described reports of fare evasion as “outrageous and infuriating,” and noted the TTC is planning to hire additional officers this year.

TTC officers carry Presto readers that can detect misuse of child cards.

The agency’s plan to increase enforcement has been criticized, particularly in light of a viral video that captured transit officers grappling with and pepper spraying a streetcar rider Friday. The TTC is retaining an “external party” to investigate.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, director of transit advocacy group TTCriders, said the child Presto card problem is “a design issue” that “is not going to be solved by more enforcement officers.”

She argued that stepped up enforcement will unfairly punish marginalized riders who can’t afford to pay. Tickets for fare evasion come with fines of up to $425.

TTC CEO Rick Leary said the child card misuse was “concerning,” but maintained the best way to combat fraud is to have transit officers “working the streetcars and in the stations, and being able to challenge people.”

There are roughly 24,000 child Presto cards in use on the TTC. Adoption of the cards grew 75 per cent last year, while concession fares for other groups such as students and seniors collectively grew only 25 per cent.

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