[Monarch Butterfly]

Children 12 and under ride the TTC for free and can use a PRESTO card to tap and board. While the card itself is not free (there's a service charge and a minimum loading fee), children aged 6-12 can have a PRESTO card loaded with a free child fare, enabling them to ride the TTC subway, streetcar, and buses for free. Children under 5 ride for free without a PRESTO card when accompanied by a fare-paying adult

POO may ask for proof of age, should one use a child, student, or senior PRESTO card.

 

[nfitz]

They may be trying to check out for people using cards with discounted fares on them they don't qualify for? I know it makes a different sound, but they might not always be able to hear it or discern whose card tap made what sound when there's a large crowd passing through multiple gates at the same time. They could even challenge on that and ask you to prove your name is the one registered on the card.

I've been told that the cards are totally interchangeable - as long as it's the right category. I didn't provide names when I got my kids card registered. Only birthdates.

 

[zang]

POO may ask for proof of age, should one use a child, student, or senior PRESTO card.

Do you know many 12 year olds who carry ID?

That said, my daughter has a child fare presto card, and you better believe that station attendants' heads turn quickly to look when they hear the very distinct sound it makes when it's tapped.

 

[nfitz]

Do you know many 12 year olds who carry ID?

That said, my daughter has a child fare presto card, and you better believe that station attendants' heads turn quickly to look when they hear the very distinct sound it makes when it's tapped.

12-year olds who look older than they may be, can get a special TTC card from their school. I did that for my first, because she looked 14, but not my second, who looks 10.

Not that they've ever been checked.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

12-year olds who look older than they may be, can get a special TTC card from their school. I did that for my first, because she looked 14, but not my second, who looks 10.

Not that they've ever been checked.

School ID cards/Student ID should include date of birth for ID purposes. They may not.

 

[nfitz]

School ID cards/Student ID should include date of birth for ID purposes. They may not.

School ID cards? I've never seen one for primary school (other than that special TTC one for 12-year olds that is request-only). They have them in high school - but that's not an issue for the under-13 rule.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

School ID cards? I've never seen one for primary school (other than that special TTC one for 12-year olds that is request-only). They have them in high school - but that's not an issue for the under-13 rule.

I've seen teenagers getting on a bus trying to say they are under 12. No POO to ask for proof of age, so they continued onto the bus.

I remember getting an elementary school (not secondary) ID with a photo. Should include a date of birth on them.

 

[Steve X]

I've seen teenagers getting on a bus trying to say they are under 12. No POO to ask for proof of age, so they continued onto the bus.

I remember getting an elementary school (not secondary) ID with a photo. Should include a date of birth on them.

Now the media will have a backlash if they arrested a kid for fare evasion. Parents will be outrageous. The best they can do is kick them off the bus.

They should really set the eligibility to either include all middle school or none at all. Not in the middle of grade 7 which means half the class gets to ride for free while others have to pay.

 

[DSCToronto]

I've seen teenagers getting on a bus trying to say they are under 12. No POO to ask for proof of age, so they continued onto the bus.

I remember getting an elementary school (not secondary) ID with a photo. Should include a date of birth on them.

Walter: I think the world has changed a bit since you were in elementary school!

 

[nfitz]

I remember getting an elementary school (not secondary) ID with a photo. Should include a date of birth on them.

I remember mandatory Lord's Prayer, bible readings, and the whip in Ontario (public) elementary school - and even I'm not old enough to have seen photo ID!

I'm not really sure the point - seems trivial and unnecessary. Looking at some of my sons female Grade 7 classmates, some look 16 or older in my eyes. It's not that easy to tell.

 

[Totti]

When Fare Inspectors have been present at the station, 90% of the time, they all stand inside, looking at the fare gates, where unpaid entry is rare.

I remember I was at a subway station with 10 fare inspector guarding the fare gate and then they check my Presto Card to see if I paid right after I tapped my Presto Card at the fare gate, then I wait for the bus and I see a group of teenagers evading the fare near the bus entrance as they saw the fare inspector at the main entrance so they find other ways to evade it without getting caught.

 

[zang]

I remember I was at a subway station with 10 fare inspector guarding the fare gate and then they check my Presto Card to see if I paid right after I tapped my Presto Card at the fare gate, then I wait for the bus and I see a group of teenagers evading the fare near the bus entrance as they saw the fare inspector at the main entrance so they find other ways to evade it without getting caught.

I don’t think teens are the main fare evaders. Park yourself by the door on any streetcar these days during peak times and it seems like 30-40% of people don’t tap on at all.

 

[Richard White]

I don’t think teens are the main fare evaders. Park yourself by the door on any streetcar these days during peak times and it seems like 30-40% of people don’t tap on at all.

They don't.

I've seen people hop on and not pay a fare. They did have fare enforcement on the 504 earlier this year which helped.

It would be nice if they had fare enforcement in the fare paid areas just inside the bus platforms. They would make a fortune from people who "forgot to load their card" or "only have a dollar"

 

[Totti]

Question: Why do Fare Inspector (rebranded as Provincial Offence Officer) conduct fare inspections in Downtown Toronto most of the time and not in other areas?

 

[Totti]

I don’t think teens are the main fare evaders. Park yourself by the door on any streetcar these days during peak times and it seems like 30-40% of people don’t tap on at all.

Yes. I'm aware of that. I've seen all ages fare evade on the streetcar network and I witnessed it before a lot. However, my original reply was based on my observations of how I saw a group of teenagers used alterative ways evade the fare (finding a unguarded area) in response of the fare inspectors patrolling the main entrance. The Fare Inspector don't do a good job on fare enforcement and need to spread them out instead of putting them all at the same spot.