Back in the USSR
If riding on the TTC wasn’t bad enough now there will be ‘politeness’ fines which cover all whole range of offences from propping your feet up on the seat to playing your ipod ‘too loud’. And Good Luck with that – since streetcar drivers rarely give the boot to non-paying passengers who then go on to harass the paying riders for money. The Globe and Mail:
Starting this week, the special constables who police Toronto’s subways and buses have the power to fine someone for refusing to move out of their seat if they have been instructed to make room for an elderly or disabled person. The new fine for impoliteness is just one of a number of bylaw changes that went into effect Monday, with riders who prop their feet up on a seat, or those who lay down on a row of seats, now facing potential fines.
The new bylaw concerning priority seating doesn’t mean that it’s an offence to sit in the area of a bus or subway that’s reserved for the disabled; rather, fines can only be issued if a rider acts “in contravention of instructions” from a special constable to remove themselves. The Toronto Transit Commission has also beefed up the deterrents for what it says are the most common problems in subway tunnels and terminals. Anyone caught smoking on TTC property now faces a fine of $195 plus a victim surcharge of $35. That’s up from the old fine of $95. Vandals hoping to add felt-pen mustaches, graffiti tags or other markings to any advertisements might want to think twice; the new fine is $345 plus a victim surcharge of $75. The amended bylaw also forbids playing music aloud. Those listening with earphones must keep it at a volume that “does not disturb other passengers or TTC employees,” the bylaw states.
Egads this is what it has come down to now – legislating manners and having politeness fairies handing out tickets…what ever happened to it was a free country? Thank G-d, I bought a bike.
I really don’t understand what exactly this ‘victim surcharge’ is suppose to represent? Is there now to be a victim fund where victims of crime while riding on the TTC can now apply to for compensation or is it merely another way to spell TTC Tax? Or perhaps it’s to help offset those unruly members of the public who see fit to challenge and demand a court hearing and trial for alleged impolite offences. This potentially can get very, very expensive for the tax payers.
I am not likely to be impolite on the TTC but I am not about to endorse it unless as a TTC rider – I have the authority to hand out fines substantial fines to bus/streetcar drivers and subway token booth workers who are rude and obnoxious with frightening regularity.
