Jonny5
Senior Member
What method did you use to load?
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What method did you use to load?
Electrify
Senior Member
Damnit! I was going to ride the Viva for free tonight if it didn't correct itself and go by the GO station tomorrow to clear the negative balance, but if it turns out that they may rectify it by email than I'll continue to play by the rules. Funny how last time I had an issue the rep never mentioned this, and I was essentially extorted out of a couple of bucks in order to use my card again.
Electrify
Senior Member
Website through my smartphone. Currently in the process of a move and haven't setup my PC or WiFi yet.
royalrivers
Active Member
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/3846703-region-considers-smart-cards-for-transit-users/
Region considers smart cards for transit users
WATERLOO REGION — The Region of Waterloo will spend $8.1 million converting to an electronic smart card system for transit users, primarily to offer ease of use between light rail and other transit systems.
"We are moving more progressively toward a cashless society," Coun. Sean Strickland said. "It's the way to go."
Starting in the fall of 2016, the region will phase out the current fare boxes and phase in a smart card. It will replace tickets, passes and paper transfers. Coins would still be accepted but bills may not.
Gethyn Beniston, a principal transit planner at the region, said it's time for a change. "When our current fare boxes were purchased, the World Wide Web wasn't in existence," he said.
Rapid transit, Grand River Transit and MobilityPLUS users could all use the card, which would be tapped on a reader as payment. Whether to go with a card that must be pre-loaded or one which bills back to a user's account has not yet been determined.
There are about a dozen Ontario cities currently using electronic fare systems, including Brantford, Brampton, Hamilton and Kingston.
What exactly the system will look like hasn't been determined yet.
Staff are gathering information, exploring what each of the estimated eight to 10 systems available have to offer, Beniston said.
One consideration will be the Presto system procured by the province and offered by Metrolinx, according to a staff report. It's in use in several cities.
The Presto system has seen its challenges.
According to media reports, ballooning costs to roll out the project in the Greater Toronto Area and issues with the system standing up to Canadian winters have raised concerns.
After the information-gathering stage, the region will either negotiate directly with Presto or issue a request for proposals.
Beniston said the biggest challenge will be integrating programs that offer discounts to frequent riders and special fares for those on income support with the new technology.
"There's enough options out there that we should get something that would offer plenty of flexibility right now and in the future," he said.
pdesmond@therecord.com
Region considers smart cards for transit users
WATERLOO REGION — The Region of Waterloo will spend $8.1 million converting to an electronic smart card system for transit users, primarily to offer ease of use between light rail and other transit systems.
"We are moving more progressively toward a cashless society," Coun. Sean Strickland said. "It's the way to go."
Starting in the fall of 2016, the region will phase out the current fare boxes and phase in a smart card. It will replace tickets, passes and paper transfers. Coins would still be accepted but bills may not.
Gethyn Beniston, a principal transit planner at the region, said it's time for a change. "When our current fare boxes were purchased, the World Wide Web wasn't in existence," he said.
Rapid transit, Grand River Transit and MobilityPLUS users could all use the card, which would be tapped on a reader as payment. Whether to go with a card that must be pre-loaded or one which bills back to a user's account has not yet been determined.
There are about a dozen Ontario cities currently using electronic fare systems, including Brantford, Brampton, Hamilton and Kingston.
What exactly the system will look like hasn't been determined yet.
Staff are gathering information, exploring what each of the estimated eight to 10 systems available have to offer, Beniston said.
One consideration will be the Presto system procured by the province and offered by Metrolinx, according to a staff report. It's in use in several cities.
The Presto system has seen its challenges.
According to media reports, ballooning costs to roll out the project in the Greater Toronto Area and issues with the system standing up to Canadian winters have raised concerns.
After the information-gathering stage, the region will either negotiate directly with Presto or issue a request for proposals.
Beniston said the biggest challenge will be integrating programs that offer discounts to frequent riders and special fares for those on income support with the new technology.
"There's enough options out there that we should get something that would offer plenty of flexibility right now and in the future," he said.
pdesmond@therecord.com
royalrivers
Active Member
I read via twitter that Guelph is finding this type of system to be to be "too expensive" to do so it may not leaving a big hole between systems.
TOareaFan
Superstar
Didn't Metrolinx, to some extent, force Toronto/TTC onto Presto by tying certain transit expansion fundings to adoption of Presto.....wonder why, as we move to a more integrated transit system across a broader region, the same is not done in KW and Guelph.
CDL.TO
Moderator
KW and Guelph are not in the Metrolinx mandate area (which is the GTHA).
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Doesn't GO Transit use Presto, and doesn't it go into Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph?
TOareaFan
Superstar
But Metrolinx is an agency of the Province....is the province providing/contributing to the funding of any of their transit plans?
Since any transit they build will be connected to GO, I presume Presto would be the most "convenient" system to implement but I am not sure why they have a choice when the TTC did not seem to have the same choice.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Doesn't Ottawa use PRESTO as well? they aren't under Metrolinx either.
Dan416
Senior Member
If they adopt anything other than Presto I'd be surprised, disappointed, and dumbfounded. It would make zero sense.
DavidJamesTO
Active Member
Ottawa is a special case; they use PRESTO, but the Ottawa cards aren't compatible with the Metrolinx cards. I can't remember why.
Adjei
Senior Member
Compability is coming soon..I believe Ottawa uses the second generation cards while the GTAH uses the first batch of cards. As users in the GTAH moves to the second generation, then the two will become more compatible.
nfitz
Superstar
All true. But as far as I understand, the lack of compatability is simply because the back office for the two systems isn't linked yet.
royalrivers
Active Member
As part of the deal with funding the new Kitchener LRT, PRESTO is supposed to be on those LRT cars. Sure GTHA doesn't cover Guelph/Kitchener BUT it does have increased GO service and is an area which Metrolinx is looking to increase services to the area over the next 25 years. So in some ways Presto could be used within those transit systems or could go the Niagara Falls Transit route having their own system but able to take Presto cards. Yes Presto is available for GO Transit passengers (as is with all GO stations) however, to get the discounted fare, you flash the card to the bus driver and pay that cheaper fare. I know one of the systems doesn't totally like that because anyone could get a Presto card and load nothing on it and they have no way to verify that it is valid etc.
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