Auditor says fare refund policy let Metrolinx keep more than $2-million

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Forcing delayed GO Transit passengers to apply for a fare refund resulted in most of them not doing so, the Ontario Auditor-General has found, allowing the agency that oversees GO to keep more than $2-million of their money over the last five years.

This finding by the auditor – who noted that Metrolinx, the regional transit agency that reports to the provincial government, could make these refunds automatic but has chosen not to – was one of a series of short-comings she identified at the agency.

The annual report by Bonnie Lysyk, issued Monday, comes as Metrolinx is suffering from steep drops in ridership that have devastated its bottom line. The pandemic has slashed ridership at many transit agencies and Metrolinx, which has traditionally carried mostly downtown-bound commuters, has been particularly affected. She concluded that the agency may need as much as $600-million additional money this year from the province, which before the pandemic approved a 2020/2021 subsidy of about $404-million.

However, the report was not uniformly negative. Ms. Lysyk also found that the provincial ministry of transportation was using a credible number when it cited a $5.5-billion cost as reason to cancel a light rail project in Hamilton. Supporters of the project had argued that this figure, which rolled in both capital cost and long-term operating cost, was inflated as an excuse for killing the proposal.

The auditor looked at governance and IT at Metrolinx, concluding that the agency was not stringent enough on cyber security and relied too heavily on contractors. The Presto electronic fare-card system was found to have failed on thousands of occasions, repeatedly charging passengers the wrong amount.

“Our audit concluded that Metrolinx does not always have systems and processes in place to manage its IT operations effectively, efficiently or with due regard for economy,” Ms. Lysyk wrote. “Critical transit operations, including PRESTO, have been negatively impacted by IT system issues.”

The auditor also found that the agency may also have given consulting firm Accenture, which won the original contract to provide Presto, an undue advantage when the contract comes up for re-issue in 2022. By giving the firm a fare-payment contract related to the Union-Pearson airport train, she wrote, Metrolinx may have given it a leg up over its rivals in future bidding.

Metrolinx acknowledged the auditor’s findings and said it would look at making fare refunds automatic. The agency also pledged to strengthen its cyber-security policies and said it had already tightened governance practices.