Winnipeg committee OKs $100 fines for singing on buses
Singing an impromptu ditty on a Winnipeg bus could land you a $100 fine.
The city's executive policy committee approved a new transit bylaw on Wednesday that makes singing on a Winnipeg Transit bus a ticketable offence.
The rule came as part of a larger transit bylaw that makes it against the law not to pay your bus fare and establishes an array of “inappropriate conduct” for which someone can be kicked off a bus or fined.
The provision for the city’s more “musical” guests, says without permission from Winnipeg Transit, no one can play a musical instrument, sing or offer a live musical performance on a city bus or face a fine of $100 plus court costs.
The rule is part of the “inappropriate conduct” portion of the bylaw, which also includes carrying a firearm, urinating or spraying graffiti on city buses.
The new bylaw also made provisions for banning people from the public transit system and limiting the time a person can wait in a bus shelter to 90 minutes.
The bylaw listed a number of fines associated with each infraction. Specific fines for “minor offences” would be $100 “plus court costs.”
Earlier this year, Winnipeg saw numerous musical performances on buses as part of JunoFest, and in 2007, the White Stripes make an unscheduled appearance on a city bus.
The duo sang to fans on the bus before getting off for an acoustic set on a city bridge.
Winnipeg Transit itself released an ad in the 1980s that featured singing bus drivers. The ads encouraged ridership while a chorus of voices sang, "Why don't you take a bus and leave the driving to us?"
The bylaw will now go for a final vote before city council.
