Anti-poverty advocates slam transit fine plan

Metro Calgary file photo

Dan Meades with Vibrant Communities Calgary, seen here at a city C-Train station, worries that hiking LRT fare-evasion fines will put an even greater financial burden on the city’s poorest citizens.

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Published: December 05, 2011 5:51 a.m.

Last modified: December 05, 2011 9:38 a.m.

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Calgary Transit’s hopes to bump up the fine for fare-evading LRT riders is being met with resistance by anti-poverty advocates believing the move would target the wrong people.

Dan Meades, director of Vibrant Communities Calgary, said many of the city’s living poor cannot afford the $2.75 charge to ride the train and are faced with taking the chance of getting caught or missing work.

Now, officials are set to bring forward a plan to city council early in the new year that would see a fine issued to those caught without a ticket rise by $100 to $250. “Increasing the cost of the fine is just criminalizing the fact that they’re living in poverty,” Meades said.

Calgary Transit safety co-ordinator Brian Whitelaw pointed out last week that the proposed fine is in line with violation charges doled out by other, comparable city transit networks. Edmonton’s city council, for example, hiked its fare-evasion fine to $250 from $110 in July.

Calgary Transit does offer a discounted $40 pass to low-income Calgarians, but Bonnie Pacaud with the group Fair Fares said even that price is too steep for some.

“People are going to take a chance,” she said, noting that those unable to pay a violation ticket can end up with a criminal record. “It seems to be quite a harsh way that we deal with fare evasion.”

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