The TTC needs to work on their fare enforcement strategies. From what I've seen, the TEOs are doing a horrible job at checking customers fares.
For example, earlier today I saw four transit enforcement officers checking fares on an ALRV. All four of them were checking the fares of people entering through only one of the three doors. The problem here is that the two other doors of the streetcar were open. I walked right on through the back door and nobody checked me. The other issue with this is that, because people weren't expecting to have fares inspected, they'd have to shuffle through their bags to get their POP out . The result was that we now have a long queue of TTC customers standing in the middle of the street, blocking traffic, increasing dwell times, and putting the safety of the customers at risk, as they're standing in the middle of a busy street. All for a fare inspection that's 100% ineffective. I can't possible understand why the TEOs were doing in this way.
Their fare inspection strategy at stations is equally ineffective. Typically streetcars stop at an unloading platform, and then continue a few meters down to a loading platform. The TEOs are only inspecting fares at the unloading platform. That means that if you are a fare evader, all you have to do is stay on the streetcar until it reaches the loading platform, and get off there where the TEOs aren't inspecting.
And even when you do pass a fare inspection point, the TEOs are not effective at checking everyone. A few times I've gotten past them without my fare being inspected, even when the station isn't crowded.
I'm getting the impression that these TEOs serve merely to discourage people from cheating fares, than to effectively encore TTC fare policy. They weren't this bad last year; maybe they've just become jaded from the job.
