New, steeper GO Transit and UP Express fare evasion penalties beginning

As many return to post-summer vacation commuting routines, a heads up for anyone riding GO Transit and UP Express as of Tuesday: Don’t forget to pay the fare or face a much steeper ticket from enforcement officers.

Tuesday’s changes to the fine system were approved by the Metrolinx board of directors earlier in 2026 and introduced progressively larger penalties depending on the number of times riders are caught without paying fares.

Here are the proposed increases for subsequent fines:

• First offence: $200
• Second offence: Current fine is $50 plus a $25 late payment charge, proposed fine is $300
• Third offence: Current fine is $100 plus a $25 late payment charge, proposed fine is $400
• Fourth offence: Current penalty is a provincial offences notice with a fine determined by the courts, proposed fine is $500 with a new late payment charge of $25
• Fifth offence: Provincial offences notice with a maximum fine to be determined by the courts plus a new late payment charge of $25
• Six or more offences: A provincial summons with a fine of up to $1,000 – to be determined by the courts, subject to approval from the chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice.

Up until Tuesday, if a rider didn’t show a valid ticket to a revenue protection officer while on GO Transit or UP Express vehicle or station property then they would face a first-offence fine of $35 plus a $25 late payment charge.

Metrolinx staff projected the increased fines could bring in an extra $6.79 to $10.18 million in revenue based on 40 to 60 per cent of fines being collected. The range during the 2025-2026 fiscal year was $4.48 to 7.87 million.

Staff previously said in a report that during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, there were 1,557,243 inspections on board GO Transit and UP Express vehicles. They said 5.02 per cent of those inspections found people who didn’t produce proof of valid fares.

Officials noted that for every one per cent fare evasion goes down, it results in $4,276,598 in recovered revenue.