You never know who you’re going to sit next to on the TTC. But as of this week, your seatmate could be an undercover transit officer watching to make sure you’ve paid your fare.

In an effort to push down fare evasion rates, the TTC has given the green light to a plan to use plainclothes special constables to help nab fare cheats on streetcars.

Chief Special Const. Mark Cousins, head of the TTC’s transit enforcement unit, said in an interview the covert enforcement officers won’t be engaged in “undercover drug takedown stuff,” but will be there to point out people who haven’t paid to the TTC’s uniformed fare inspectors. The inspectors will still be responsible for writing tickets.

Cousins wouldn’t say how many undercover constables will be deployed, or when they’ll start. “As a riding customer I’d just assume that they’re out there right now. So continue to pay your fares, and we’ll go from there,” he said.

According to a report that went before the TTC board on Tuesday, the streetcar network had a fare evasion rate of about 2.7 per cent during the first six months of 2016. That’s above the industry standard of 2 per cent.

Cousins said plainclothes constables will be instrumental in catching passengers who only pay when they see an inspector coming.

“So that when a fare inspector boards and you say, well I’ve been trying to pay but I couldn’t figure out how, or here’s my token and I was going to go deposit it, the undercover person can say, actually I’ve been riding with her for seven stops she never got out of her seat, she never made an attempt. She gets a ticket,” he explained.

Under the Provincial Offences Act, the fine for riding the TTC without paying is $235.

TTC chair Josh Colle said he supported using undercover constables because the agency has tried other preventative measures and “there still seems to be persistence” on the fare evasion front.

“I’ve seen so many times where a fare inspector gets on, people shuttle off. Or people who all of a sudden see a fare inspector don’t get on a vehicle,” he said.

Colle said he didn’t see any privacy concerns with using undercover constables to monitor transit users because it would only affect people who are “doing something illegal.”

The plainclothes officers would be taken from the TTC’s complement of roughly 40special constables. Under an agreement with the Toronto Police Services Board, the constables have limited police powers on the TTC and are authorized to carry handcuffs, batons, and pepper spray.

Fare inspectors are provincial offences officers and have less power than special constables. According to policy changes the TTC board authorized on Tuesday, inspectors will no longer carry batons or handcuffs. The TTC has about 68 fare inspectors, plus a dozen supervisors and administrative staff. The only operate on the streetcar network.

According to Tuesday’s board report, TTC fare inspectors checked 3 per cent of streetcar riders inthe first six months of 2016,which is below the industry standard of 4 to 5 per cent.

The agency could add more inspectors to improve that rate, but it would likely cost more money that it’s worth. An additional 20 inspectors could help recoupabout $600,000, but would cost about $2 million. Inspectors make about $100,000 a year in salary and benefits.

TTC CEO Andy Byford said he was confident the approved complement of 80 inspection staff would be able reach the 4 per cent inspection rate. Byford has worked for rail systems in London and Sydney, Australia, and said it’s not unusual for public transit agencies to employ plainclothes units.

TTC staff estimate that fare evasion costs the agency $20 million a year. Councillor Vince Crisanti, who sits on the TTC board, said Tuesday that figure represented “a pretty serious problem” for the transit agency.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

But TTC leaders argue it would be impossible to completely eradicate fare evasion. TTC deputy CEO and chief customer officer Chris Upfold told the board the lost revenue should be considered in light of the amount of money the TTC takes in from the fare box, which is more than $1 billion a year.

“If you think of fare evasion as shoplifting, I think that most shops, most retail agencies, would be very, very pleased to have a 2.5 per cent loss to shoplifting,” Upfold said.