News   Jul 22, 2024
 278     0 
News   Jul 22, 2024
 354     0 
News   Jul 19, 2024
 1K     0 

Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

Anybody heard or seen anything about electronic wallet integration? I know it was supposed to be planned for a future generation, with open payments.

Presto should really be on Android Pay and Apple Pay.
They want to get it fully implemented before they do that. Plus Apple pay is a hassle in the back end to deal with if you aren't a bank or credit card company.
 
Anybody heard or seen anything about electronic wallet integration? I know it was supposed to be planned for a future generation, with open payments.

Presto will never be available through electronic wallets. The drawbacks of putting it on mobile (not being able to keep a separate, physical card, and being unable to tap out or show proof of payment if your battery dies) make it a non-starter here in North America. Yes, I know some systems in Japan have it, but Japan has a totally different culture where the drawbacks are considered acceptable.

The TTC does have support in its Presto implementation to accept credit cards, but they haven't figured out when or how they're going to accept them. Credit cards might only be accepted for the individual cash fare.
 
Yes, I know some systems in Japan have it, but Japan has a totally different culture where the drawbacks are considered acceptable.

Not just Japan. I believe Apple Pay had Oyster integration at launch in the UK. It's pretty obvious that's where the rest of the world is going. Not just fare payment. There are places now experimenting with digitized ID for driver's licenses, health cards, etc.
 
I believe Apple Pay had Oyster integration at launch in the UK.

Nope. Apple Pay does work with London's open payment system, but that's just your plain ol' credit card.

The problem isn't putting it on your phone. The problem - a problem specific to transit farecards - is that you can't have multiple working copies of the same card, which isn't an issue with credit cards or ID cards.
 
Nope. Apple Pay does work with London's open payment system, but that's just your plain ol' credit card.

My mistake. I knew they had some integration. I thought it was with Oyster.

The problem isn't putting it on your phone. The problem - a problem specific to transit farecards - is that you can't have multiple working copies of the same card, which isn't an issue with credit cards or ID cards.

Why would you need that? Wouldn't you presumably have one Presto just for you, on your phone? If different transit system, wouldn't the Presto transit system calculate your transfers?
 
Wouldn't you presumably have one Presto just for you, on your phone?

Yes, but this isn't Japanese culture where everyone is complacent. If you allowed this, you'd see people freaking out that their phones might die in the middle of a trip and get fined, then when the TTC allows that you'd see people complaining that people will carry bricked phones on the streetcars instead of paying. And meanwhile there would be people complaining that Presto is "poorly designed" because (to improve reliability) they store everything on the card, so you can't have a card that's both physical and on your phone.
 
My September MDP Metropass arrived in the mail yesterday. With a Presto insert, noting that "We will provide you with more information about the 12 Month Pass, including when you need to switch to PRESTO,in a future insert."

The MDP pass will become the "12 Month Pass" on Presto. Unlimited travel, billed monthly, and require a 12-month commitment like the current MDP pass.

As they always show up about half-way through the month, it will be nice not to have to worry where you put the pass, on the first day of the month, as you are trying to rush out the door!
 
How long does it take for a Presto card to activate?

I bought a Presto card earlier today, put $20 on it and used it to travel on the TTC for the day. My balance is now depleted, and it seems that I cannot reload it at the loading machines until I activate it online.

I activated the card an hour ago, but the loading machines are still telling me the card is not activated, preventing me from loading it.
 
How long does it take for a Presto card to activate?

I bought a Presto card earlier today, put $20 on it and used it to travel on the TTC for the day. My balance is now depleted, and it seems that I cannot reload it at the loading machines until I activate it online.

I activated the card an hour ago, but the loading machines are still telling me the card is not activated, preventing me from loading it.

Update: the Presto machine at Dundas Station is broken. When customers attempt to reload, it always gives a "transaction canceled" error, which is causing customers to believe they've done something incorrect, and caused me to believe I needed to activate the card to reload.

When I was leaving the station there were about a half dozen or so commuters trying to use the broken machine. I was able to direct them to a working machine in the station, but I'm sure there's now another large group of people struggling with this.

Metrolinx and their contractors must provide a better experience than this. We can't have rushed commuters struggling to make a broken machine work because whoever designed this thing is incapable of displaying an "out of order" message. This is absolutely ridiculous.
 
Update: the Presto machine at Dundas Station is broken. When customers attempt to reload, it always gives a "transaction canceled" error, which is causing customers to believe they've done something incorrect, and caused me to believe I needed to activate the card to reload.

When I was leaving the station there were about a half dozen or so commuters trying to use the broken machine. I was able to direct them to a working machine in the station, but I'm sure there's now another large group of people struggling with this.

Metrolinx and their contractors must provide a better experience than this. We can't have rushed commuters struggling to make a broken machine work because whoever designed this thing is incapable of displaying an "out of order" message. This is absolutely ridiculous.
They are the TTC and Metrolinx have been working on a new machine that will be rolled out soon it apparently will have the capability to reload presto cards as well as print rfid tickets as well.
 
They are the TTC and Metrolinx have been working on a new machine that will be rolled out soon it apparently will have the capability to reload presto cards as well as print rfid tickets as well.
From CEO September Report: " Next generation Add Value Machines have arrived on property from Metrolinx and are under test. After field trial, these will be progressively installed over the Fall to TYSSE and existing stations." and:

"Software upgrades continue to be deployed to card readers and fare gates to improve their performance.
Card readers now average greater than 97 percent availability.
Fare gate performance has also improved, which includes a reduction of the “wait” screens that were displayed intermittently at a number of fare gates across the system. •
TTC Monthly Passes continue to be phased in on PRESTO. In July, 1,675 adult and 28 senior TTC Monthly Passes on PRESTO were sold. The number of passes will be increased throughout 2017 and 2018. An MDP equivalent will be available on PRESTO early next year.
• A major PRESTO system upgrade was completed on July 24. This upgrade includes additional fare payment options (i.e. daily maximum, express bus payment, Metropass Discount Plan, Peak/Off Peak pricing) within the PRESTO system. These features are currently being tested and validated."
 
From CEO September Report: " Next generation Add Value Machines have arrived on property from Metrolinx and are under test. After field trial, these will be progressively installed over the Fall to TYSSE and existing stations.
It's also mentioned in the September 14, 2017 Presto Update for Metrolinx.
upload_2017-9-12_0-39-55.png
 

Attachments

  • upload_2017-9-12_0-39-55.png
    upload_2017-9-12_0-39-55.png
    372.8 KB · Views: 561
Is the $6 to buy a Presto Card the main barrier to entry? Is it the fact that auto-reload is "stressful"? Is it that people may lose their card and have to buy a new one? Is it people don't like loading/managing fares online? Or is it a combination of many reasons why TTC customers don't want to move over to Presto?
 

Back
Top