OC Transpo cracking down on Presto fare skippers

The days when transitusers could fail to tap their Presto card and escape with only a warningare atan end, OC Transpo's general manager is warning.

"We're out of that period," John Manconi told the city's transitcommissionon Wednesday.

"If we check your Presto pass -- we have the technology [to do that]-- and you didn't tap, we're going to issue a ticket."

In fact, inspectors did issue two tickets to Prestofare evaders onMonday and Tuesday during a two-day blitz, transit commission heard.

The vast majority of the approximately 1,400 riders asked for proof of payment, however, had properly paid their fares.

During a series of blitzes in 2014, when the Presto card was still relatively new,OC Transpoasked 200,000 riders for proof that they'd paid their fare -- and discovered that more than four percent were riding for free.

Riders who fail to tap their Presto card could face a $150 fine.