Over the years we have recalled “Exact Fare Day”– that was April 1st 1970. It wasn’t an April Fool’s prank, riders now had to pay cash to ride the bus, no more tokens would be accepted.
Similarly, we have reported about crime on transit, and not just petty by-law infractions like fare evasion. We are talking serious crime such as holding up and robbing streetcar motormen.
Now here’s a story reported by the Vancouver Express in the March 14th 1970 edition that combines those two topics. A clue about the details is in the date: some two weeks before “exact fare day. “
Apparently, thieves broke into the cashier’s office at the Oakridge Transit Centre. Overlooking rolls of nickels and dimes, they figured the big pay-off would be in transit tokens: they were worth twenty-five cents each. They stole $3,000 worth. At some point, they must have discovered they’d be virtually worthless after April 1st, for they ditched their loot in a laneway off W 13th Avenue. (While we don’t know whether BC Hydro offered a refund for the odd token in people’s possession, turning up with $3,000 worth would surely attract attention.)
