With the TTC’s recent focus on fare evasion and moves to change Wheel-Trans, it’s even more important for riders to understand their rights.
TTCriders is a transit advocacy group that rose from Toronto’s grassroots to give Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) riders a voice. With hundreds of dues-paying members, its vision is to build accessible, frequent, and dignified public transit that works with and for riders.
“Public transit is a right,” says Andrew Pulsifer, Executive Director of TTCriders. “Our priorities are driven by our members and what transit issues are affecting local communities. We partner with frontline groups to hold story-sharing circles for people to talk about their direct lived experience.” Hosting these events and forums reveals what needs improvement and enables the organization to speak with authority on the issues.
‘Safety’ has been a hot topic coming from these conversations, and from the TTC, City of Toronto, and Toronto media too. More transit users are feeling unsafe using the system. The TTC’s reaction has been to hire more fare inspectors and special constables, equip them with body-worn cameras, add plain-clothes patrols, and increase the presence of police officers in the system. But measures like these don’t necessarily make all riders feel safe. “A lot of people feel uncomfortable with more policing on transit,” says Andrew.
As Andrew points out, expanding policing in the system has been shown to increase racial profiling and anti-poverty profiling. This can create its own set of safety concerns and barriers for marginalized people who rely on public transit most. It also surfaces some disproportional penalties for transit users. “Especially when you compare them to a parking ticket, the fines for fare evasion are astronomically high,” says Andrew. “Some fines are up to $400.”
In response, TTCriders is expanding its Know Your Transit Rights program. With their most recent Responsive grant from The Law Foundation of Ontario, the group is delivering more workshops and updating and developing multilingual materials. A new popular piece is a handy, wallet-size card for people to carry with them.
The group is also working with pro bono lawyers to update their plain-language print and online resources about how to apply or reapply for Wheel-Trans, and how to appeal a decision. These resources are especially important as the TTC has taken steps to move customers from door-to-door Wheel-Trans service to its ‘family of services’, which requires people to use standard buses, streetcars, or subways for parts of their trip. “The TTC is seemingly trying to force people off of a system that is better for the user but more expensive for the TTC to operate,” explains Andrew.
TTCriders’ public legal education efforts are empowering their members and raising awareness about riders’ needs and experiences. “These kinds of systems are, by design, a bit complicated to navigate and understand, and we want to make sure that people are aware of and can exercise their legal rights,” he says.
“It’s about making legal information understandable and accessible to folks that would otherwise face barriers. It’s also about putting a spotlight on how the system could be changed to be more equitable for everybody,” Andrew adds.
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