Beware of POO on the TTC

In its infinite wisdom, the Toronto Transit Commission has renamed its fare inspectors Provincial Offences Officers, or POO for short.

Yes, really.

POOs will be donning new uniforms and vests identifying them as POO. This change comes as part of the TTC’s effort to deal with fare evasion, a crime that costs the commission $140 million each year. Cracking down on such behaviour is the job of the TTC’s 170 fare inspectors, front-line workers and supervisors, all of whom are now POO.

Related: Who broke the TTC? Inside Toronto’s public transit disaster

Predictably, the new acronym swiftly became the butt of innumerable jokes. Given the TTC’s reputation for vehicles that all-too-occasionally smell of excrement, it’s easy to mock an investment in yet more POO.

Even city councillors are pooh-poohing the new title. On X, Ward 12 councillor Josh Matlow posted: “We’re going to have to do some work on the acronym though.”

The official X account @TTCNewsroom, however, is unamused by the potty humour. In response to one such comment, the TTC blamed the oversight on the province and decried POO critics as “snickering, puerile 12-year-old boys.”

This response predictably attracted its own share of ridicule. Commenters called the TTC whiny and aggressive and doubled down on the poop jokes, saying that the commission’s media relations team must also be POO.

Related: After decades of delays, the UP Express will soon connect to the TTC via a pedestrian tunnel

Beyond the snickering, some say POOs could represent a serious problem. In a statement, organizer Rebeena Subadar with the transit-rider-advocacy group TTC Riders said, “There’s a real risk that fare enforcement is quietly evolving into a parallel transit police force, without enough input from transit riders.”

Subadar added, “Framing POOs as revenue-recovery tools positions them as a fix for lost revenue when what’s needed is investment in service, affordability and care.”

That would be nice. But, for now, all we’re getting is POO.