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Walking the beat with Transit Security: fare inspection

Walking the beat with Transit Security: fare inspection

A Transit Security Officer prepares to board a bus for fare inspection

If you’ve been riding transit recently, you may have spotted Transit Security Officers conducting fare enforcement patrols across the transit system.

Our aim is to reduce fare evasion by $5 million each year as part of our efforts to reduce TransLink’s funding gap, which will exceed $600 million annually starting in 2026. Just like you, the costs of everything have gone up for us. At the same time, we’ve seen a decline in fuel-tax revenue as people switch to electric and hybrid vehicles, while fare increases have not kept up with inflation.

So, what happens during a fare enforcement blitz? The Buzzer joined Transit Security for a behind-the-scenes look and window into their world.

My ride along began at Transit Security headquarters in New Westminster where the officers geared up, picking up the handheld reader used to check fares. With that in hand, we boarded the Expo Line to ride to Commercial–Broadway Station, our third busiest, to conduct fare enforcement.

Naturally, I had to ask what the reader was and how it worked.

Turns out it is just an Android smartphone with one app installed on it, our in-house fare inspection app. During fare checks, officers use it to scan your Compass Cards and Tickets, as well as credit and debit cards, to check if you have a valid fare.

When scanned, relevant information pops up on the screen for the officer to make that assessment.

This includes details such as whether the card has been tapped, or if it’s an adult or concession Compass Card. It will also show how you paid, whether that’s using Stored Value, a Monthly Pass, a DayPass, or U-Pass BC along with the associated post-secondary institution.

The app displays green to the officer for a valid fare, red for invalid fare, and yellow alerts the officer to take a closer look.

It’s important to note simply having a Compass Card is not a valid fare. Neither is holding a Compass Card with someone else’s U-Pass BC loaded onto it or a concession Compass Card if you are not eligible for it.

Now, what about credit or debit cards? The app checks if there’s a card with those four last digits tapped into the system. That’s why if you use a mobile wallet like Apple Pay, you should present your device for fare inspection. These wallets generate a virtual card number that is different from your physical card.

Now that I have the 411 on how it all works, we’re ready to conduct fare inspections.

A rider hands a Compass Card to a Transit Security officer

Fare inspection at Commercial–Broadway Station

Before we began, I had to ask what were our goals? Is there a particular quota of fare infraction tickets the officers are trying to hit? Nope, the focus really is on just ensuring riders pay their fare, whether that’s through education or issuing a fine.

The Transit Security Officers positioned themselves inside the faregates in the north stationhouse of Commercial–Broadway Station. One group checked the faregates from the Broadway entrance and another group checked the Commercial Drive entrance.

Since the fare check was happening at the faregates, the Transit Security Officers did not prioritize using their handheld readers. They can simply look at the screen of the faregates to find out if the person entering the SkyTrain station is using the correct fare.

One of the first passengers I saw Transit Security stop was actually not for a fare check. It was because it appeared their tap did not register, and they accidentally followed someone into the fare paid zone.

This is important since the passenger wouldn’t have a valid proof of payment riding the SkyTrain. Without a tap in, they also would have been charged the maximum 3-Zone fare on tap out.

Another passenger was having trouble exiting the system tapping their Interac Debit card.

A Transit Security Officer checked their card on the handheld reader and it showed the customer had successfully used it earlier and a consistent history of tapping in to pay for transit.

The debit card had seemingly suddenly just stopped working. As a result, the officer provided a Compass Ticket to the customer so they could finish their transit journey home and then figure out their issue with their bank.

Overall, what I observed was riders were tapping and paying their fare.

Most interactions with riders were to ask for student ID to verify eligibility for U-Pass BC — not to issue tickets.

The U-Pass BC provides students at participating post-secondary institutions unlimited travel on the bus, SeaBus and SkyTrain, as well as discounts on the West Coast Express.

The pass is not transferrable, and students must use their own U-Pass BC that is loaded onto their own Compass Card. In other words, you cannot use your roommate’s Compass Card with U-Pass BC loaded on it even if you both are eligible for the pass.

For those who did receive fare infraction tickets, it wasn’t because they didn’t tap in. It was because they used a concession Compass Card they weren’t eligible to use. Only those who are HandyCard holders, seniors 65 and older, and youth 13 to 18 years with valid photo ID proving their age are eligible for concession fares. It is not a “student” fare.

A Transit Security Officer writes a Fare Infraction NoticeTransit Security Officers are granted powers by law — such as under part 12 of the South Coast British Columbia Authority Act — to request identification, whether to confirm eligibility for a fare or to issue a fare infraction ticket. It is also an offence to provide false information. In other words, Transit Security is not Paul Blart in Mall Cop.

Ultimately, our goal is to encourage people to pay their fares.

It is our hope that increasing high-visibility fare enforcement patrols will deter people from using the transit system without paying or paying the appropriate fare amount.

Keep in mind, TransLink’s service area spans more than 1,800 square kilometres. There are more than 8,500 bus stops and more than 1,500 buses in our fleet, so it’s simply not feasible for us to be everywhere at once. That’s why we use data to strategically inform where to perform fare checks.

Moving to Main Street and Kingsway to check buses

After a while at Commercial–Broadway Station, we boarded the 99 B-Line to Main and Broadway to conduct fare checks on that route.

The 99 B-Line is one of the busiest bus routes in Canada and the United States. It is one of our routes that uses all-door barding along with the RapidBus routes, 143 SFU/Burquitlam Station, and 145 SFU/Production Station.

Overall, most riders were paying the correct fare and most interactions between customers and Transit Security Officers were to check for student ID. Those receiving fare infraction notices were customers using a concession Compass Card when they were not eligible.

Transit Security Officers were also finding riders using a Compass Card with a U-Pass BC or Monthly Pass loaded who didn’t tap when boarding the bus thinking it didn’t matter.

Even if you have a U-Pass BC or Monthly Pass loaded onto your Compass Card, which provides unlimited travel on bus, you are required to tap in on the bus to validate your Compass Card.

Tapping your card when boarding the bus is like getting your passport stamped at the border.

Just as you need a passport stamp to officially enter a new country, you need to tap your Compass Card to officially start your journey on bus. Without the stamp in your passport, you can’t proceed, and without validation, your Compass Card isn’t recognized for travel.

It also helps provide us with valuable ridership data on how full the buses are and where service may need improvements.

Final thoughts

These are just anecdotes from my two-hour visit with Transit Security — designed to simply give our readers a window into their work and to outline what to expect.

Again, most riders paid their transit fare and the correct fare. However, as expected, there were people who did not pay, or used an improper fare like a concession fare when they are not eligible.

Transit fares help pay for our transit system and when people don’t pay, it affects our ability to operate the transit system.

Customers who cannot afford to pay for transit may qualify for free or subsidized transit passes. Those who are eligible can access passes through the BC Bus Pass Program or charitable organizations that receive donated passes from TransLink. To learn more about what resources are available, please visit translink.ca/farepayment.

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