Calgary Transit wants to increase the fine for people who don't pay when they ride.

Right now the penalty is $100 for people caught without a pass or a ticket, but transit officials want to see that go up to $250.

Brian Whitelaw, the head of public safety and enforcement for Calgary Transit, says a study found many people don't pay unless they see a peace officer or get fined several times.

The Calgary Transit study found 4.5 per cent of people don’t pay for LRT tickets. Officials want to see that drop to two per cent.

"Many of these people certainly had the means to pay and we knew they were essentially cheating the system and calculating that they wouldn’t be caught," said Whitelaw.

He said they looked at the fines across Canada and figure $250 is fair.

"We took a look and said, ‘You know, one of the ways to reduce that free rider problem would be to certainly increase the fine,’ " said Whitelaw.

Whitelaw says the increase would still have to be approved by council.

He says people who ride during rush hour without paying will also soon find extra transit police riding buses and trains to check tickets.

Calgary transit rider Jason Readshaw feels more than doubling the current fine for not buying an LRT ticket is pretty steep. (CBC)

But transit rider Jason Readshaw said it’s a steep raise for a fine. He finds most people jump on the LRT without a ticket because they run out of time before the train arrives.

"To me it seems like the working class is the one going to be paying the fine more than anyone and they can’t afford it," he said.