The number of tickets isssued for fare evasion on the TTC jumped by 800 per cent in five years, a trend expected to continue as the transit agency hires more fare inspectors.

According to information from the TTC, a total of 973 fare evasion tickets were handed out in 2014 (there weren’t any issued for the first seven months of that year).

For 2015, 2,477 tickets were issued all year; in 2019, the number stood at 19,871.

These numbers will likely continue to shoot up as the TTC continues its crackdown on fare evaders.

“We have a new class of inspectors starting very soon and then the hiring for new special constables will begin,” said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green.

The TTC will soon have 111 fare inspectors checking passengers who are riding the buses, streetcars and subway trains, Green said, adding that the city has also approved the hiring of 50 additional special constables.

TTC riders started using Presto cards at some subway stations in 2012, and streetcar riders were allowed to board through the back doors beginning in 2015.

Ticketing riders who fail to provide proof of payment has drawn criticism from commuters and transit advocates, who describe it as unfair. Many also say the fines for fare evaders are disproportionate compared to the penalties for other infractions.

Lauren Mitchell, a regular TTC rider for the past 10 years, admitted she forgot to pay when she recently hopped on the Queen streetcar. The ticket she received, and the subsequent process to either pay or fight it, has left her both astounded and frustrated.

“I was caught in a moment of weakness,” she said, noting the fare inspector had waited for a couple of stops to see if she would tap her Presto card.

“I was in the wrong but the punishment does not fit the crime.”

Mitchell received a $235 ticket, which she was told is the lowest fine for fare evasion.

“That’s an unfair amount of money for a $3.25 infraction,” she said, adding it’s embarrassing to be fined in front of all the riders.

She said she was once fined $135 and lost two demerit points off her driving licence after she was caught driving 25 km over the speed limit — something she described as more dangerous than a transit fare evasion.

It would take driving 38 km over the speed limit for a driver to get fined the same amount as a person who didn’t pay on a streetcar, she said.

“You almost have to be at a racing speed to get the same cost of a ticket that you get for evading a $3.25 fee,” she said.

Mitchell, who says she’s always paid her fare on the TTC and had about $50 on her Presto card when the incident happened, is determined to dispute the fine.

She said even the officer told her disputing it was the right thing to do: prove that you usually tap on every ride, show a history of uploading money on the card and you might get a significant reduction on the fine.

But that process has proved challenging.

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Mitchell said she spent time trying to find information relating to her case on the Toronto court services website, but she couldn’t find any. Then after being put on hold for a long time, she was finally told her ticket wasn’t in the system yet.

She said she was told there has been an influx of these tickets being disputed that the system is overloaded, and her case might not go through for another two to three weeks.

Mitchell called the whole process a “bureaucratic nightmare.”

“It’s very frustrating,” Mitchell said. “You clearly want my money, so why are you making it so difficult to go through this process?”

City spokesperson Cheryl San Juan told the Star in an email a enforcement officer has seven business days from the date they serve the ticket to file the certificate of offence with the court.

Court Services processes the information in the court computer system within two business days, she said.

Rebecca Byres, another TTC rider who admitted skipping payment and getting caught in 2016, said it was “just a one-off” incident but her ticket was more than $400.

She hasn’t paid that fine. She said her father received three calls from a collection agency about it back in 2018, but nothing came of it.

Byres has since moved to live in Hamilton, but still travels to Toronto and makes sure she pays every time she’s on the TTC. She said it’s unfair for a person who didn’t pay on TTC to be fined that much, while those who commit traffic infractions receive much lower fines.

“The focus should be on improving the transit system rather than hunting people who didn’t pay $3.25 and spending more money on fare inspectors,” she said.

Green, the TTC spokesperson, said the agency issues an average of 1,200 to 1,500 tickets per month, but it’s not clear how many of those are being processed in courts for disputes.

“Fines are proposed by our prosecutors as a deterrent and are approved by the courts,” he said, adding the transit agency does not receive the money from the fines and would simply prefer if riders would pay their fare.

“Tickets are not issued if Presto devices are not working. They would be asked to use another machine or tap at their next transfer point.”

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