OC Transpo's Thugs for Hire
There was a recent incident in Ottawa involving some students taking pictures of OC Transpo property (property which is advertised on the OC Transpo website) and an OC Transpo "cop" who manhandled one of them. I assume it's before the courts, or whatever, but I'm here to tell you without reservation that the "cop" exceeded his authority whether he did or he didn't, if you catch my drift.
Because I've been on the bus when these thugs-for-hire board to check all passengers for proof of payment. It's an invasion of our civil rights, in my opinion, and I'm not sure why we put up with it. If the system whereby people enter through the side doors of buses, thereby not necessarily having paid the fare, is not working, then people need to enter through the front door in order to pass by the driver and either pay or show their bus pass or transfer.
Hiring sketchy characters to randomly board buses and harrass passengers for proof of purchase is an insult to the users of public transit and we, the good citizens of Ottawa, need to say "enough".
And, by the way, what does this questionable service cost us on top of the high fares we already pay for not-the-best service? Because there is no way on this earth that it would worth it even if these hirees were volunteers. I'm tired of suddenly realizing I forgot to ask for a transfer and madly dashing back up the aisle to request one from an often surly driver who then gets to chastise me for not having remembered to ask for a transfer when I paid the fare (and let me tell you - if the transfer machine worked any slower, I wouldn't need to take public transit to work at all - having been fired for chronic lateness...). The system is patently unfair because it should be up to OC Transpo to provide proof of payment to the passenger - it shouldn't be up to the passenger to remember to ask for it. I've paid my fare, the driver has neglected to give me a transfer, but I'm the one at fault when the OC Transpo thug-for-hire boards the bus to demand "proof of purchase"?
I don't think so. And if you think that's kind of whiny, think again. I've got three teenagers and I'm tired of reminding them every time they use the transit system - don't forget to ask the driver for a transfer. Because they DO forget. And I can only imagine how freaked out I'd be as an already freaked out teenageer if proof of purchase was suddenly demanded of me by some muscled up jerk and even though I knew I'd paid, I couldn't find my transfer (OC Transpo's proof of payment...) because I'd forgot to ask the driver for one. And, as a parent and public transit system user, I just know an OC Transpo driver would take the opportunity to stick it to a teenaged passenger (just because he can) and pretend he has no idea whether said teen paid the fare or not.
Nope. This questionable (at best) "service" is not something I believe my taxes should support and I think it's time we said good-bye to OC Transpo cops, whether the one in the news is guilty of overstepping his overstepped authority or not.
