So far this year, fare evasion has cost the city’s public transit system approximately $407,000.
This figure, representing approximately 101,750 incidents based on $4 single-ride fares, was shared during Monday’s 2025 budget meeting of city council, at which the city’s elected officials approved hiring two part-time municipal law-enforcement officers to ride public transit.
“Our bus operators are not instructed to enforce this themselves, and that is to ensure their own safety and well-being,” city Transit Services acting manager Laura Gilbert told city council.
A business case proposing the municipal law-enforcement officers also notes, “onboard issues are not considered by police in the absence of a significant/identified threat.”
City staff have tracked fare evasion by route and the times of day incidents have taken place and will schedule municipal law-enforcement officers accordingly.
Unlike bus operators, whose standard operating procedure prevents them from involving themselves in enforcement, municipal law-enforcement officers can kick people off buses.
“Not paying for a bus would be a prohibitive activity and we would be able to make an arrest,” city Corporate Security and Bylaw Services director Stefany Mussen said.
“We would work with our partners at Greater Sudbury Police Service to affect that arrest and continue it in a lawful nature.”
Last year, there were 52,230 incidents of fare evasion documented on the city’s conventional system, carrying an estimated revenue loss of $182,805.
Since that time, on Jan. 15, GOVA Transit single-ride fare jumped from $3.50 to $4.
There are also more people riding buses than ever before, with last year’s ridership of 5.2 million notching the city a new all-time record, exceeding the pre-pandemic total of 4.6 million recorded in 2019. Given the high number of riders, the $407,000 lost to fare evasion represents less than two per cent of the total ridership on GOVA Transit.
Ridership is on track to hit more than six million by the end of this year.
“With that comes safety and some issues with respect to people not paying for their fares, and that’s why I believe these MLEOs will pretty much pay for themselves,” Mayor Paul Lefebvre said in championing the business case to hire the two part-time staff members.
Between benefits and wages, the two part-time officers, who will work a total of 2,496 hours, are projected to cost $101,799. The initial business case anticipated the officers’ work would result in a fare-box revenue jump of $64,296, but city council members topped the estimate to $101,799 to reach a net levy impact of zero.
A mid-year update will be provided to city council members in 2025, at which time they’ll make a funding decision in the event they don’t meet their revenue target.
At this time, there might also be greater clarity on Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc’s concern that people aren’t paying bus fare because they can’t afford it. As Children and Social Services director Tyler Campbell pointed out, police typically don’t bother laying charges in cases where fines are unlikely to be paid.
Sudbury.com reached out to city communications staff to learn more about why fare evasions increased at a greater rate than ridership between 2023 and 2024, but they didn't have data available to explain it.
"We can tell you that the total amount of fare evasion includes incidents where no fare payment is made, as well as occasions where the customer is short fare payment," the city spokesperson said in a written response.
"Focused on staff safety, bus operators educate riders about fare payment requirements, as opposed to restricting rides. Municipal law enforcement officers currently provide support based on the circumstance and frequency of fare evasion. The approved business case for dedicated (municipal law enforcement officer) on-board provides a level of deterrence and education for fare evasion and ensures staff safety by reducing the frequency of incidents. This increased service level will provide a safer environment for staff and customers related to the delivery of transit services."
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.