Fare Infraction

According to section 251(1) of the SCBCTA Act, you can dispute your ticket if:

• you didn't commit the infraction as alleged and/or
• the ticket doesn't comply with section 249(1) of the SCBCTA Act.

A Dispute Screening Representative will review your case in accordance with the SCBCTA Act and the Bylaw. These representatives can't reduce the ticketed amount or cancel the ticket for any reason other than the ones listed in section 251(1) of the SCBCTA Act.

Occasionally, the Dispute Screening Representative will require more information from the fare officer who issued the ticket, and a copy of the fare officer's response will be shared with you.

You'll normally have five (5) business days to respond to the officer's additional information, or to withdraw your dispute. If you don't respond within that time limit, the dispute process will continue based on the information you provided in your dispute form. 

In accordance with the SCBCTA Act and the Bylaw, the Dispute Screening Representative will decide whether or not to cancel your ticket. You'll be notified (via the email or mailing address you provided in your dispute form) what decision has been made and why.

If your ticket isn't cancelled, you still have to pay the fine. If you're not satisfied with the outcome of the dispute process, you can appeal the decision as explained below.

All disputes are reviewed in accordance with the SCBCTA Act and the Bylaw. The dispute proceeding is closed to the public and is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of British Columbia.

In order to appeal your ticket, you must:

• fill out a Notice of Appeal form and

• send the appeal form to the TransLink Fare Infraction Administration office within 30 days from the dispute decision date (except as set out in section 5 of the Bylaw).

If you don't fill out the appeal form completely, or information is wrong or missing, the arbitrator might reject your appeal. If your appeal is rejected, you still have to pay the ticket.

The easiest way to pay your fare infraction is online. You can also pay in person or by mail.

If you don't pay your fare, or if you're caught without proof of payment in a Fare Paid Zone, the fine is $173. The fine increases over time if you don't pay.

There's a dispute process if you think you shouldn't have received a fare infraction ticket. You must tell us you want to dispute your ticket within 14 days of receiving it. A Dispute Screening Representative will review your case and make a decision. If your ticket isn't cancelled, there's an appeal process. An independent arbitrator will review your case and make a final decision about whether or not to cancel your fine. Read the Disputing a Fare Infraction section for all the details.

No, the Dispute Screening Representative or arbitrator cannot change the fine amount. They can only cancel, or not cancel, a fare infraction ticket.

You may refer the decision to the Provincial Court for review under section 257 of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act.

If you don't pay your fare infraction ticket, it may be sent to a collection agency and/or you may not be able to get or renew your driver's licence and/or get or renew your vehicle insurance. 180 days after the fare infraction ticket was issued (except as set out in the fare collection bylaw), the ticketed amount will go up by $40 (to $213). 366 days after the ticket was issued, it will go up by $60 more (to $273).

Fare infraction tickets issued before September 4, 2012 are provincial offences. The Province of British Columbia will pursue payment with you. Paying or disputing tickets takes place through ICBC.

There are several measures that encourage people to pay their tickets:

• Ticketed amounts increase over time – the longer someone waits to pay, the more the ticket costs.

• The ticket may be sent to a collection agency.

• Drivers who haven't paid their fare infraction ticket may not be able to get or renew their driver's licence and/or get or renew their vehicle insurance.

Our goal is to encourage people to pay their fares, not collect fines! This process helps ensure that people who don't pay their fares face consequences if caught. We don't expect fines to be a source of revenue to fund operations. Revenue from fines is expected to help pay for running the program. This includes fine administration, dispute resolution and collection costs.

Transit Police and designated Transit Security personnel are able to issue TransLink fare infraction tickets.

The fare collection bylaw can be accessed online, as can the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act (see Part 12 - Fare Recovery).

Your personal information was collected on the fare infraction ticket for the purpose of enforcement of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act and the related fare collection bylaw, including issuing fare infraction tickets and collecting ticketed amounts. The authority for collecting this information is Part 12 of the SCBCTA Act and section 26 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. If you have questions about the collection of your personal information, you can contact the TransLink – Dispute Screening Representative in writing at Suite 400 - 287 Nelson's Court, New Westminster, BC V3L 0E7 or by phone at 778.375.6951.