by Taylor Berry

I ride the subway for a good two hours every day, so TTC etiquette is pretty much ingrained in me. I let people exit before I get on a train, I give up my seat to the elderly, and I don’t block the seat beside me with my bag. But as of Monday, the TTC will be enforcing these rules of etiquette with a lot more fervor, and the penalty for breaking them will be a hefty fine.

People who obstruct doors, leave their feet on seats or don’t give up their seats to riders who need them could be fined $195 for these offences, while in the past they would have received only a warning. The penalty for evading a fare or smoking on TTC property has also risen from $115 to $195. Doctoring a metropass or a using a fake ticket means a fine of $385. In addition, all fines have a $35 provincial surcharge added to them–POW! Take that, TTC jerks!

TTC fines actually go to the city rather than the TTC directly, so this seems to be a legitimate move for less bad behaviour on the TTC rather than an excuse for the TTC to make money. You shouldn’t have to threaten fines to see some courtesy on public transit, but instating these penalties is definitely something good to fall back on.