Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

New law allows both transit police and transit security to issue fare evasion tickets and send those that go unpaid to collection agencies. People who don’t pay could risk losing renewal or issue of a driver's license or vehicle registration.

New bill requires that drivers of buses and other vehicles equipped with flashing lights use them when picking up or dropping off developmentally disabled riders. Violators are subject to a fine of at least $100 for a first offense.

Officials say that it appears, anecdotally, to have “changed the way people behave.” The agency has also replaced sound walls that blocked pedestrian views of trains and added pedestrian swing gates and extra signs to improve safety at rail crossings.

They argue that Calgary Transit’s plans to increase the fine for fare-evading light rail riders from $100 to $250 would target the wrong people and many of the city’s poor cannot afford the $2.75 charge to ride the train.