The Toronto Transit Commission expects to lose $123 million to fare evasion across its system this year on subways, buses and streetcars.
While the TTC is trying to limit it, fare evasion is apparently rampant at one of Toronto’s busiest and most important public transit hubs.
As Global News recently witnessed at Eglinton station, some individuals walk parallel to the station and then duck in near the bus stop in the parking lot, trying to look nonchalant as they head to a bus or walk into the terminal building, down the stairs and onto the subway platform.
Most of the people entering the station from Duplex Avenue appeared to be trying to avoid paying the $3.35 public transit fare — and they were succeeding.
This isn’t entirely new. Riders have been cheating the system for years, but the problem has gotten worse lately.
“Trespassing and accessing the station through the bus bays without paying is dangerous and illegal,” wrote Adrian Grundy, a senior communications advisor at the TTC, after Global News watched and recorded riders entering the station without paying.
A Global News crew set up on Duplex Avenue around 10:30 a.m. and pointed a camera at the station from a distance. It didn’t take long before we saw how it works.
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Instead of going to the regular station entrances, riders walked south to the bus bay area, where TTC buses regularly depart on their routes.
Signs clearly state that pedestrians should not enter at this location. But once someone has found their way into the bus bays, they’re in a fare-paid zone. It’s expected they would have come through the electronic turnstiles after paying their fares, but those who have come in the rear entrance haven’t.
After a while, TTC enforcement officers appeared in the bus bays. At one point, three uniformed officers stood watch in front of the entry point, advising a few people trying to enter that they were not permitted to do so.
Their presence effectively deterred others, who turned around and walked to the other entrances or waited to return later.
After about 20 minutes, the officers left. Soon after, other riders arrived, entering the station through the bus bays unchallenged.
Then, Global News moved the camera operator and the reporter to the front of the spot where riders were entering the terminal through the illegal crossing point. No one appeared fazed by the attention and the steady stream of transit riders continued.
Several people were asked why they were going through the back entrance instead of the front when it’s not allowed.
A few claimed they were looking for a shortcut in the heat; others said they had transit passes and were going to tap their cards inside, even though there is no mechanism to do this because the machines are all at the main entrances outside the secure area.
When asked if they were trying to get on transit for free, everyone denied they were.
A nearby resident told Global News this back-street entry to the subway station has been a problem for years, but is getting worse.
A viewer who approached a news crew said she is frustrated that riders are flouting the rules and getting transit for free, while she pays.
As Global News observed, the chances of being caught are low. If approached by a transit officer in the bus bay, riders were allowed to leave and enter in the main entrance and were not ticketed.
The TTC acknowledged it has a problem on its hands, and not just at Eglinton station.
“A recent analysis of illegal bus bay entries and exits at TTC stations has found several hot spots, which are now subject to blitz deployments by TTC special constables,” said Grundy, the TTC spokesperson.
According to a report by the TTC’s audit risk and compliance department, losses from fare evasion more than doubled to $128.8 million in 2023 from $60.7 million in 2018.
The report showed the TTC lost most revenue from bus riders who didn’t pay: $67.1 million.
It lost $30.2 million from streetcar riders.
Subway riders who did not pay their fare cost the TTC $26.5 million, according to the report.
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