In a stunt that makes a mockery of Translink and the mainstream media‘s claim that the transit system is rife with fare cheats, what‘s actually occurring is something quite different entirely and we as the public need to assume this is what's happening every time someone is accused of being a fare cheat.
Middle-class citizen Tawna Taylor rides Canada Line several times a week to work and always pays her fare with her credit card. But last fall when Taylor was commuting on the train she was stopped byTransit Police at the Richmond Brighouse station. The officer demanded to see her proof of payment.
“It was not in my purse, so the first thing I said to the lady is ‘I just paid 10 minutes ago on my credit card, can we call Visa?’ She said ‘no, I have to write you a ticket,’” said Taylor.
Taylor was not happy to receive a $173 fine, but felt better when Transit police told her she could challenge the ticket. "I was told all I need to do is prove that I paid and send in my proof in order to do the dispute process," said Taylor. But the officer in question was lying through her teeth.
Taylor sent TransLink proof that she did buy two tickets on her credit card the day she was stopped by transit police. She even sent them a copy of her monthly statement to prove she's a faithful TransLink customer who routinely charges tickets to her credit card, but it still wasn't enough. TransLink insists that she pay the fine even though it‘s clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that she paid her fare. It‘s all over her credit card statement, fare withdrawal after fare withdrawal, including at the time she was accused of not paying.
What Tawna did not get was a trial by a jury of her peers as required by the people, a right fought for many hundreds of years ago. So she has to pay the fine despite her right not to do so without the people's assent. This is 'revolutionary'.
Demanding that she pay this fine and forcing her to carry the appalling social stigma of ‘fare cheat’ is not what We The People expect of this transit system. This is just blatant, flat-out thievery on the part of Translink. They’re nothing more than common criminals stealing from the public. We demand it stop now!
