When running a public transit system, how do you make sure that people actually pay their fares? Well, you could get rid of fares entirely and just pay for it with taxes. But if you’re a city who wants to throw cops at every problem it has, you hire people to make sure that people are actually paying their fare.

This is a problem in Toronto, and to solve it, they’ve decided to upgrade their fare inspectors. Now, they’re not just fare inspectors — they’re Officers, tasked with going after Offences in the Province. Heck, you could even call them Provincial Offences Officers!

Wait, that spells POO, doesn’t it?

Yes, Matt. We were kids once too and the acronym was thought through, but the designation was not ours to begin with..
It existed in Ontario legislation long before the TTC began using it this weekend.
A simple search through this document shows multiple references.…

— TTC Media Relations (@TTCNewsroom) July 21, 2025

Yeah, turns out, they didn’t really workshop this name before going live with it, and as a result, fare inspectors are called POOs — and the transit system’s PR people have spent all day on Twitter begging people to stop making fun of it.

Sorry, that’s not gonna happen, Mr. and Mrs. POO!