Councillor Alejandra Bravo and Councillor Paula Fletcher have introduced a City Council motion to reduce the fine for non-payment of fares.
TTC fines ($235-$425) are much higher than parking fines, and disproportionately impact low-income and racialized residents, especially Black and Indigenous people.
TTCriders is also asking Mayoral candidates in a survey if they will end the harmful and ineffective fare enforcement program.
Link to the motion: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/dm/bgrd/backgroundfile-235569.pdf
Can you send a letter in support? Use our email template:
SUBJECT: Please support DM6.2:Fine Equity: Balancing Toronto Transit Commission Fare Evasion and Parking Fines
SEND TO: [email protected], [email protected], [your City Councillor]
EMAIL:
Dear City Councillors,
I am writing in support of DM6.2: Fine Equity: Balancing Toronto Transit Commission Fare Evasion and Parking Fines.
Reducing TTC fines is long overdue and would reduce the harms of the current fine structure, which are disproportionately felt by low-income and racialized people.
I was troubled to learn about the findings of a 2020 online survey by transit advocacy organization TTCriders, which found that:
- If someone cannot afford to pay the expensive ticket, their ticket goes to collections, which can impact their credit rating.
- Many people lose a day’s wages when they choose to contest their ticket, because hearings happen during working hours.
- Reasons for receiving a fine that were reported to TTCriders include: broken PRESTO machines or readers, PRESTO card had not reloaded fast enough, inability to reload or purchase PRESTO in person, losing a transfer, and inability to pay due to poverty.
The fare enforcement program should be ended altogether. The TTC has reported clear evidence that Black and Indigenous people are grossly overrepresented in TTC enforcement activities, especially Black and Indigenous men. This overrepresentation remains strong across TTC locations, benchmarking techniques and enforcement activities.
There are many barriers to paying for the TTC, including the PRESTO system. For example, TTC staff have reported numerous times that there are major gaps in the PRESTO resale network in Scarborough and Northwest Toronto. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) wrote to the TTC and Metrolinx in April 2021 outlining their concerns that the use of the PRESTO electronic fare payment system “may present barriers to accessing Toronto’s public transit for some Human Rights Code-protected groups.”
The OHRC letter explained that the PRESTO resale network at Shoppers Drug Marts does not provide “sufficient access to physical locations for purchasing PRESTO fares, with the most significant gaps occurring in areas where more residents are racialized or experience poverty, such as North-west Toronto and Scarborough. Physical fare sale locations are also particularly important for people who do not have access to credit cards or the internet and need to buy fares with cash. As well, needing to travel further distances to buy fares may present challenges for people with disabilities.”
This is why I am urging you to support of DM6.2: Fine Equity: Balancing Toronto Transit Commission Fare Evasion and Parking Fines.
Sincerely,
[Your name, your postal code]