Jonny5
Senior Member
That is when you pay. Isn't there a second email after that one that acknowledges the process is complete?
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That is when you pay. Isn't there a second email after that one that acknowledges the process is complete?
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
I have started using it on the subway - I already had the card anyway for the train to the airport. It is much quicker, though in typical TTC fashion they haven't got around to installing card readers in all the stations, so I got a freebie when I was coming home on Christmas night and told the nice TTC employee that I had a card and he had no reader.
crs1026
Superstar
Well, my user name issue turned out to be my keychain settings. They work fine now.
I'm plainly lazy and don't like learning about the fine points of my computer unless forced to, but I'm a "willing" convert to Presto - got my card two years ago, knowing that it would be this long before I could use it on TTC. So I'm probably a "typical" enough test case, perhaps less likely to react to its deficiencies than the average TTC rider when the "crunch" hits.
Presto would be wise to simplify the registration process. It doesn't need to be as complicated. The unnecessary step that I encountered was the fact that the system does not allow one to continue to use the card number as a login after one has registered and chosen a user name. None of the financial institutions that I deal with work that way - most offer the use of a user name, but if you enter your card number they accept that too.
Will the new subway fare gates be installed at the non-attended entrances to subway stations? Or just the attended ends? My entrance (Grenview at Royal York Station) is currently full floor to ceiling turnstiles. It seems obvious that locations like this will become prime targets for fare evasion down the road. Maybe TTC is anticipating this, and has a strategy to deal with it.....but I can see this being costly either way. At the very least, I hope that the non-attended entrances get the same priority for Presto installation.
- Paul
I'm plainly lazy and don't like learning about the fine points of my computer unless forced to, but I'm a "willing" convert to Presto - got my card two years ago, knowing that it would be this long before I could use it on TTC. So I'm probably a "typical" enough test case, perhaps less likely to react to its deficiencies than the average TTC rider when the "crunch" hits.
Presto would be wise to simplify the registration process. It doesn't need to be as complicated. The unnecessary step that I encountered was the fact that the system does not allow one to continue to use the card number as a login after one has registered and chosen a user name. None of the financial institutions that I deal with work that way - most offer the use of a user name, but if you enter your card number they accept that too.
Will the new subway fare gates be installed at the non-attended entrances to subway stations? Or just the attended ends? My entrance (Grenview at Royal York Station) is currently full floor to ceiling turnstiles. It seems obvious that locations like this will become prime targets for fare evasion down the road. Maybe TTC is anticipating this, and has a strategy to deal with it.....but I can see this being costly either way. At the very least, I hope that the non-attended entrances get the same priority for Presto installation.
- Paul
the lemur
Senior Member
I got my Presto card on Saturday and had no issues with setting it up. The only thing that was odd, since I researched where to buy one, was that I couldn't buy one at Spadina. The fare collector said they were only available from GO or from the TTC at Union or Davisville, but the Presto site says Gateway newsstands also sell them. Spadina has a Gateway newsstand, but I decided not to argue with the guy and just bought it at Bathurst (the fare collector even let me go through without paying just to go downstairs). Took a one-stop ride on the 511 to test it.
Megaton327
Senior Member
Honestly I don't see getting a Presto card as an issue--I got mine in 2012 I believe, and today it's tremendously easy to get one at Union which I figure most TTC riders end up, at the very least, passing through every now and then, plus Queen's Park, Davisville, and all of the stations that link up with GO. I guess a more accurate list of stations would be: Union (GO and Vending Machine), Queen's Park (Vending Machine), Davisville, Dundas West (Bloor GO), Kipling, Main Street (Danforth GO), Kennedy, Leslie (Oriole GO), and the GO bus terminals at York Mills, Finch, Yorkdale, and Scarborough Town Centre. Some of those (Bloor, Oriole, Danforth) are a bit of a walk, I know, but nonetheless I think valid options. Plus, if you count streetcar/bus routes that service GO stations, add Long Branch, Mimico, Exhibition, Scarborough, Eglinton, Guildwood, Rouge Hill, York University, Old Cummer, Agincourt, Milliken, Etobicoke North, and Pearson Airport courtesy of the UPX station counter. Not to mention being able to order one online--since Presto isn't the required system-wide fare payment method for discount fares yet, and tokens can still be used, if one orders it now the 10 business day or whatever waiting period is hardly an issue.
That all being said, while I don't see it as an issue, and honestly I hadn't even considered that full list of TTC-intersecting/-proximate locations at which to purchase one until just now, it is clear looking at @ttchelps' and @bradttc's replies that a lot of TTC riders do, for some reason, consider it an issue. I guess maybe TTC-only riders who have never used GO or even been to a GO station are hesitant to even walk the few steps just due to the fact that it's not TTC...
So, I was thinking, and presumably the TTC plans to remove+trash the current Pass Vending Machines installed in most stations once the Metropass is phased out. I think it largely makes sense to do so as perhaps the mounts/wiring/networking could be reused for more Self Serve Kiosks or something like that, but I think it makes sense for them to leave one in each station that currently has them, and reconfigure it to solely vend Presto cards--and instead of the $20 ($14+$6 fee) currently sold by the Union and Queen's Park machines, sell them for $9 ($6+$2.90 single adult fare) because the self-serve kiosks are so prevalent now. It would obviously be nice to have a more purpose-built option, say make the fee $10 so you can pay cash easily, add a tap-to-pay debit/credit reader, even let you purchase a custom-loaded one, but this has the advantage of requiring a simple reconfiguration of the software+stocked cards in already-present machines at very little cost.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
Yea, its only specific Gateway's, Bathurst being one of them.
rbt
Senior Member
Getting a Presto card is very easy.
Making it so you get the the appropriate federal tax slip (registering the card to your identity) is annoying. Getting autoload setup after the card is registered is a huge pain in the ass (3rd trip and 2nd day).
Making it so you get the the appropriate federal tax slip (registering the card to your identity) is annoying. Getting autoload setup after the card is registered is a huge pain in the ass (3rd trip and 2nd day).
JamesKoole
Active Member
Is anyone here familiar with how the readers on the streetcars work? Are they connecting to Presto periodically via the same cellular connection that the Nextbus tracking uses? I was surprised to see my 4:07pm trip already reflected in my account just an hour or so after I tapped. From what I've read about OCTranspo, one of the big improvements they made was to increase the frequency of connections of the readers to the system to 4 times per day. Seems the streetcars are connecting more often than that.
It's been an interesting few days learning about Presto and how the interconnections between cards, readers, etc. all works. I have to say, it's a far more complex system than I ever imagined with many challenges to overcome around connectivity, geography, fare rules, numbers of users and readers, etc. I've got some good answers now for when co-workers suggest that it should work just like a Starbucks card.
It's been an interesting few days learning about Presto and how the interconnections between cards, readers, etc. all works. I have to say, it's a far more complex system than I ever imagined with many challenges to overcome around connectivity, geography, fare rules, numbers of users and readers, etc. I've got some good answers now for when co-workers suggest that it should work just like a Starbucks card.
LNahid2000
Senior Member
No, I've never received a second email and refill my Presto card online every couple of weeks. It would be impossible to know when the process is complete, because as I mentioned, it happens on different readers at different times (hence the up to 24 hours message).
Amare
Senior Member
The only complaint I have with the Presto system currently installed on the streetcars, is that it doesnt tell you how much it deducts from the card at the time of the tap and what the current balance of the card is. All I get every time I tap is "Verified". I'm sure they will change it over time, but it's a bit of a nuisance currently.
ottbike
Active Member
Ottawa has the exact same readers, and it tells you how much time and balance you have left. I'm sure it is just a matter of changing a setting similar to how you can choose a screensaver on a computer.
[sorry for the bad quality photos]
smuncky
Senior Member
Did you tap at a subway station at all after your tap on the streetcar?
nfitz
Superstar
This is deliberate to speed up boarding, so that people don't try and hover on the stairs, or at the gates, to read their balance.
They are converting over the ones in the stations so they don't show the balance either.
Amare
Senior Member
^Well if they're going to that, the least they can do is install balance checkers inside stations and at major terminus points (ie: Long Branch, Humber Loop, etc..) so someone can figure out what their balance is. Let's remember, not everyone has a smartphone and/or internet and some people actually will rely on those kind of machines.
The closest balance checker for a TTC customer shouldnt be at a GO Station, to be able to check a Presto card balance.
The closest balance checker for a TTC customer shouldnt be at a GO Station, to be able to check a Presto card balance.
LNahid2000
Senior Member
The old readers displayed the balance for less than a second. I doubt displaying it for such a short period really delays boarding. Also, I don't think it really delays anything on GO which does display your balance.