This morning on my C-Train ride to work I was busted by a transit cop. I didn't have a valid fare, so he gave me a $150 fine. Yes, I'm guilty, and the peace officer was certainly within his rights to give me the ticket.
I'm a bit annoyed by it, though. First, I wasn't trying to cheat the system and ride for free. I'm an honest citizen and gladly support public transit. I had in my wallet monthly passes for every previous month of 2009, which I showed to the officer in the hopes he'd let me go with a warning (he didn't).
The only reason I don't have an August pass yet is because today is the first business day of the month, it was pouring with rain this morning, and it completely slipped my mind that I needed to buy a new pass as I was trying to stay dry while rushing to the platform. It was an honest mistake, and I'm sure there were hundreds of other C-Train riders who did the exact same thing this morning.
Has this happened to anyone else before? Is there anything I can do to have the fine reduced or waived? The ticket says I can dispute it in court, but I don't imagine it's worth my time to miss work and wait around in a court room for the better part of the day hoping that a judge
might reduce my fine. In the scheme of things, $150 isn't that big a deal, but I'm still miffed by it.
