TTC phasing out 'no tap' gates to cut down on fare evasion

The TTC is starting to phase out "no tap" gates at subway stations because customers gaining entry this way illegitimately is costing the transit agency more than $20 million a year, an official says.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the transit agency started the phase out on Monday on Line 4, also known as the Sheppard Line. Green said it's a good place to start because it's a lower traffic line so it will be easier for the TTC to manage the change there.

"What we are trying to do is close all of those gaps in our system that are allowing people to evade fare," Green said.  "It's just one more way of cutting down on fare evasion that we're experiencing."

The no-tap gates, which are monitored by collectors, automatically open when customers approach them at subway stations, according to Green. 

Customers who use these gates legitimately are those who do not need to pay, such as children under 12, people with a support person assistance card, and those with a paper transfer. People also use these gates when paying with cash, a TTC ticket or a token.

"People are just walking right through them without paying when they should be paying," Green said. 

Going forward, collectors will open the fare gates manually for people who need to gain entry this way on Line 4, the TTC said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

During the first step to the phase out, all other fare gates on Line 4 will be switched to "tap only" mode, the TTC said on its website. Green said the phasing out of no-tap gates across the entire subway system could take a year or two.

The TTC is undergoing a "culture change" where fare evasion will not be tolerated, according to Green. Full and partial evasion, through a myriad of ways, is costing the TTC roughly $140 million a year, he added.

"Those days are gone at the TTC," Green said. "We can't take this lightly any more."

Cameron MacLeod is executive director of CodeRedTO, a volunteer-led transit advocacy group in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. He said the phase-out is an "understandable change" given that some people are using the no-tap gates to avoid paying their fare, because the TTC has to pay its bills. 

But MacLeod said longtime Toronto residents have noticed a degradation in the reliability and predictability of the transit system and that perception may be contributing to fare evasion.

"There will always be people who are not going to pay. There are those who don't care and don't want to pay. There are those who cannot pay. But there are those, sort of on the margins, the optional fare-evaders, the ones that are choosing to say: 'I don't care enough,'" MacLeod said.

"And for some of them, it could be they don't feel that the system cares about them. They don't feel that the system can be trusted and therefore it shouldn't be trusted with their money."