Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[drum118]

PRESTO just got faster. Instant loads and more.​

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

PRESTO just got faster. Instant loads and more.​

Starting April 13, 2026, PRESTO has completed a major transformation to deliver more flexibility, convenience and seamless journeys for PRESTO customers. Now with real-time transactions and instant loads. Learn more here.

• ll your PRESTO taps and transactions are now available instantly on the PRESTO website and app.
• Instantly transfer everything from a lost card to a new, anonymous or registered PRESTO card.
• Registering a PRESTO card or setting up Autoload is now easier and faster. You can set everything up instantly from your PRESTO Account.
• See more information when you tap to pay with debit or credit on a PRESTO device. Screens will now display the cost of your fare, free transfers and how long your free transfer is valid.
• New lock and unlock feature on your PRESTO card. Misplaced or lost PRESTO cards can now be locked/unlocked directly from your PRESTO account.
• You can now transfer funds between PRESTO cards in your PRESTO account. Freedom and flexibility to manage money between PRESTO cards under the same PRESTO account.

PRESTO card overdraft update​

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Starting March 2, 2026, registered PRESTO card taps will only be accepted if you have enough funds to pay your full local transit fare. This update brings consistent fare payment requirements across transit agencies using PRESTO.

For GO Transit customers, this means that if you don't have enough balance to cover your full fare at tap off, your PRESTO card will go into a negative balance. You won't be able to tap with your PRESTO card on any transit – GO Transit, UP Express or local transit – until you reload your PRESTO card. Once you load funds, your negative balance (overdraft) will be cleared and the remaining amount will be available for use the next time you tap to pay for transit.

Ways to always have a balance on your PRESTO card: 

• Instant PRESTO loads when you add funds through the PRESTO website or app.
• Setting up Autoload means you will always have the funds you need to travel with PRESTO. Autoload automatically and instantly loads funds to your PRESTO card whenever your balance falls below a minimum balance you set.
• On the PRESTO App, you can set a low balance notification in the 'settings' area of your PRESTO Account.

Adult Fare with PRESTO - Save 15%+​

Number of Trips	Discount++
1 through 35	15.7% off**
36 to 40	88.3% off**
41 or more	100% off**

If you do not take the exact same trip each time you travel on GO within a calendar month, your first 35 rides on GO will be 15.7%** off the single-ride adult fare. For trips 36 and onwards, your discount will be based on the value of the trips you’ve taken that month. To earn these discounts, you’ll need to use the same form of payment for all your trips – you can’t combine payments on a PRESTO card, PRESTO in Google Wallet, credit card, and debit card.

Youth & Post-Secondary Students save 40% on GO with PRESTO.

Seniors save 55% on GO with PRESTO.

Forgot to Tap Off?​

If you forget to tap off at the end of your trip, an amount for Missed Tap Off or Underpayment will be deducted from your PRESTO card or charged to your credit or debit card at the start of your next trip in the GO network.

 

[turbanplanner]

This would be the goal, to allow reading of transfers given to cash-fare riders on buses. The hiccup is that the fancy fareboxes that auto-count cash and could have a built-in printer are north of $15k per bus as I understand it. Ideally, having a printer that could be pushed by an operator or linked to the deposit of cash would be best.

I feel like the union would shoot down the 2nd option

 

[ScreamingViking]

I was on a LSW train this morning that had a [rare] fare inspection. A girl got very angry that the inspector wouldn't accept her crappy reasoning that "the train was coming and she didn't have time"... he explained that it was actually a delayed train (by a couple of minutes) so she'd have missed it completely had she still arrived when she did. That seemed to push her over the edge. Still, I think all she got was the dreaded lecture as a first offense punishment.

I think most people on the train who had properly tapped were just rolling their eyes... I know I was.