Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[unimaginative2]

It's not a smart card though. It's a much older generation of technology, that requires physical contact, and requires you to add money to it manually, in-person. It's almost 20 years since they started implementing it, and it's still restricted to MTA buses and subways, and can't be used on MTA trains.

That may be, but it's still far more advanced than the century-old technology used by the TTC. I'd be thrilled if the TTC progressed even to the Metrocard level.

 

[nfitz]

That may be, but it's still far more advanced than the century-old technology used by the TTC. I'd be thrilled if the TTC progressed even to the Metrocard level.

Why would you want to implement 1980s technology that New York is preparing to dump? It's not that dissimilar to the Vancouver technology that they are dumping. I doubt it would be much quicker or cheaper to implement. More importantly, the back-office costs would be huge. TTC is getting a huge deal on the back office costs, particularly the initial set-up cost.

So more cost, about the same time, out-of-date when it's installed. And not compatible with GO or other transit agencies. Why would this be a good thing?

 

[gweed123]

That's minimum pain I would say.
If you look at ticketing systems world wide, almost all cities need you to either tap or insert your fare card. Visual inspection is not enough and should be eliminated because, well, the card itself can be fake, and inspectors don't have the time to check carefully for authenticity.

And there is loophole in "presenting your pass when asked to", as it is completely possible for passengers to evade fare when they travel in groups of two or more. After entering the station, one of then can bring the card/pass out, give it to another passenger outside without any fare card, and help him/her to get in for free. A reading machine would tell the card has just been tap/swiped, but the fare inspector wouldn't.

Currently Ottawa's Transit Passes come with a Photo ID. You need to show both when asked.

 

[kkgg7]

Why would you want to implement 1980s technology that New York is preparing to dump? It's not that dissimilar to the Vancouver technology that they are dumping. I doubt it would be much quicker or cheaper to implement. More importantly, the back-office costs would be huge. TTC is getting a huge deal on the back office costs, particularly the initial set-up cost.

So more cost, about the same time, out-of-date when it's installed. And not compatible with GO or other transit agencies. Why would this be a good thing?

What kind of technology the presto card will have? I still don't know.

I hope we just have something like Shanghai does (adopted in 1999). It is not called a "smartcard" but it is pretty smart: you scan it when you enter and scan again when you exit (contactless. many passengers don't even take it out, just keep in in their bags/purses). The system automatically calculates how far you travelled and deduct the corresponding fare.

When you exit the subway and board a bus, you scan again, and the system will give a 1RMB discount because it knows you are making an interchange. All subway stations are equipped with recharging machines, which is rather convenient. When your usage exceeds a certain threshold, the remaining trips during that month will be 10% off.

Or London's Oyster card is super easy to use too. It charges different rates for peak and off-peak hours, and there is a daily cap so when you reach the cap, the remaining trips are all free. It is extremely friendly. I hope we can adopt both of these features.

 

[kkgg7]

TTC only voted to go with Presto in late 2011, and even now, I don't think the deal has been 100% finalized. The issue, if you remember, was the price for TTC implementation was very high (even Metrolinx's own estimate), much more than the governments had originally estimated. It took until 2011 for the Ontario government to bring a deal to the table that wasn't going to require City of Toronto to put a lot of money up front. In November 2011, Metrolinx estimated there would be full implementation of Presto in TTC by late 2014.

So it took them 5-6 years just to make a decision? TTC never ceases to shock me. A nuclear station doesn't take so much time.

 

[nfitz]

What kind of technology the presto card will have? I still don't know.

Get one and use it then. It's been use since 2009. already, and it's similar to London's Oyster or Hong Kong's Octopus card. As far as I know Shanghai's is a smartcard, and would also be similar; but I'm not familiar with it.

So it took them 5-6 years just to make a decision? TTC never ceases to shock me. A nuclear station doesn't take so much time.

TTC has no money, and is significantly underfunded compared to the suburban systems. What do you expect them to do, spend what they don't have? Raise fares to implement it?

A nuclear station doesn't take so much time.

Really ... how many years have we been talking about Darlington B? About 30 years now, and they still haven't given a go-ahead. The most recent kick-at-the-can has been hot-and-heavy now for 6 years. How many $millions have we already spent on that already?

 

[kkgg7]

Get one and use it then. It's been use since 2009. already, and it's similar to London's Oyster or Hong Kong's Octopus card. As far as I know Shanghai's is a smartcard, and would also be similar; but I'm not familiar with it.

I would, but Queen station, which is closest to where I live, still doesn't have it unfortunately.
I have lost so many tokens in the past few years because they are so small!

 

[nfitz]

I would, but Queen station, which is closest to where I live, still doesn't have it unfortunately.
I have lost so many tokens in the past few years because they are so small!

Must be frustrating when all your TTC trips both start and end at Queen station ...

 

[rbt]

Must be frustrating when all your TTC trips both start and end at Queen station ...

I had a large number of trips start and end at Finch. The shortest walking path happened to be through the station.

 

[unimaginative2]

Why would you want to implement 1980s technology that New York is preparing to dump?

Nfitz, don't get too excited about one of your gotcha attempts. I said that the Metrocard is far more advanced than the current TTC technology and that New York has had it for years. I did not advocate for Toronto to adopt that technology.

 

[nfitz]

I did not advocate for Toronto to adopt that technology.

You said you'd be thrilled if we progressed to that level. Sorry, I mistook that for advocacy.

It's no secret that TTCs fare system is archaic, and hasn't progressed much since they withdrew conductors from surface vehicles. Hopefully Presto will free us from some of the lunacy that current exists.

 

[W. K. Lis]

MUNI's Clipper card has a few bugs to be worked out:

[video=youtube;Tp5-DKWTh_Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp5-DKWTh_Y[/video]

 

[unimaginative2]

You said you'd be thrilled if we progressed to that level. Sorry, I mistook that for advocacy.

Nfitz, have you ever considered a career on Fox News? You'd be perfect.

 

[drum118]

[FONT=&quot]From May 31, 2011 to March 4, 2012, MiWay customers purchased 3,718 Presto cards, paying $1.2M in fares, making a total of 777,569 trips (471,910 paid trips and 305,659 transfers).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Public Use of the MiWay website and mobile site is up significantly….all other methods of communication are essentially flat. [/FONT]

 

[taal]

The average person doesn't realize how much the TTC is underfunded compared to other transit agencies in North America ... all the rants about customer service, will never change. Of course we can't improve service to the extent we should, it all comes down to money. The average Joe won't / doesn't realize that.

Having said that the TTC is still at fault for many things. To me the worst thing the TTC does is the route management of bus lines ... the bunching that takes place is just unacceptable.