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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

Ottawa has had open payment a bit longer than Toronto, but I still mostly use my Presto card. It's mostly just inertia, it's setup to autoreload, and I've never turned it off. If it stops working or gets lost I'll switch to just tapping with my phone. I imagine it's the same in the GTA

Did the TTC ever adopt fare capping, I know it was proposed? Ottawa did that when open payment started, which really eliminated the reason to get a Presto card or pass. The daily cap is the price of a day pass, the monthly cap is the price of a monthly pass. The only reason to use a presto card is if your a senior or a student to get the discounted fares
 
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I'm glad we have both virtual presto, and open payment. It's great knowing I can tap on either way and not have to worry about finding a presto card because it's on my phone, or having to worry about finding cash because I can use my debit card.

However, there's one thing I'm wondering. Say I board a GO train using my virtual presto, and my phone battery dies before my stop. Enforcement agents are on board checking fares and they ask for me to tap on. My phone is dead, how do they confirm that I actually did pay the fare? Would they be able to use my ID or my first and last name and look me up in the system to see what fare medium I used if my presto card is registered under my name? Do I end up with a fine because I can't present my payment medium to them?
 
JJTheJetPln said:
I'm glad we have both virtual presto, and open payment. It's great knowing I can tap on either way and not have to worry about finding a presto card because it's on my phone, or having to worry about finding cash because I can use my debit card.

However, there's one thing I'm wondering. Say I board a GO train using my virtual presto, and my phone battery dies before my stop. Enforcement agents are on board checking fares and they ask for me to tap on. My phone is dead, how do they confirm that I actually did pay the fare? Would they be able to use my ID or my first and last name and look me up in the system to see what fare medium I used if my presto card is registered under my name? Do I end up with a fine because I can't present my payment medium to them?
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Some GO buses and trains have USB ports near the seats. If you remember to bring along a USB cord, you can charge your smartphone/tablet as you travel. Have a USB cord in my car, also just in case.
 
JJTheJetPln said:
However, there's one thing I'm wondering. Say I board a GO train using my virtual presto, and my phone battery dies before my stop. Enforcement agents are on board checking fares and they ask for me to tap on. My phone is dead, how do they confirm that I actually did pay the fare? Would they be able to use my ID or my first and last name and look me up in the system to see what fare medium I used if my presto card is registered under my name? Do I end up with a fine because I can't present my payment medium to them?
Click to expand...

If your device is dead then you'll get a warning or ticket (proof of payment requires proof you no longer have), but there is a dispute process.

That said, its really hard to accidentally go through that last 5% of battery as nearly all devices go into an extreme battery saving mode which can be sustained for many hours but still maintain NFC capabilities. With cellular/wifi/screen off and all apps paused that 5% charge will last the duration of any GO trip unless the battery is faulty.
 
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JJTheJetPln said:
I'm glad we have both virtual presto, and open payment. It's great knowing I can tap on either way and not have to worry about finding a presto card because it's on my phone, or having to worry about finding cash because I can use my debit card.

However, there's one thing I'm wondering. Say I board a GO train using my virtual presto, and my phone battery dies before my stop. Enforcement agents are on board checking fares and they ask for me to tap on. My phone is dead, how do they confirm that I actually did pay the fare? Would they be able to use my ID or my first and last name and look me up in the system to see what fare medium I used if my presto card is registered under my name? Do I end up with a fine because I can't present my payment medium to them?
Click to expand...

On iPhones, if you turn on Express Transit for your Presto (or your payment card of choice) your phone will actually still work with NFC transit readers for quite a few hours after the phone is dead.

I’m sure Android has similar thing.

Here’s more info from Apple https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/security/sec90cd29d1f/web
 
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