Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[nfitz]

Four people got onto my bus yesterday morning (these are regulars who had Presto cards for some time) and the tapping process was so slow.

Were they asking the Presto machine for directions?

There's often that many people tapping as they board at a stop. What was unusually slow this time?

 

[Leo_Chan]

Four people got onto my bus yesterday morning (these are regulars who had Presto cards for some time) and the tapping process was so slow.

Was it a GO bus, where they all wanted to load their card?

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

Was it a GO bus, where they all wanted to load their card?

#86E Scarborough Express between 6 and 7 AM heading to Kennedy Station. Heck...the people paying with tokens and asking the driver for transfers were faster.

 

[TransitBart]

Of course, doing some programing might be better than "educating our guests' so that one machine could do both but ....

Programming might be cheaper than these platform jobs, but it is hard to change the direction of something in motion. Wow....education.

“If our customers were smarter and would only pay more attention...”

 

[wopchop]

That actually makes a lot of sense. I've never recognized that coins, paper, and plastic actually cost money to produce/circulate.

Isn't he saying that Presto is already starting to cost more than the old cost to administer the old fare collection program - i.e coins, paper, collectors, money trucks, etc.

 

[Andy T]

It’s only day 1 of the new extension and already one of the full service machine at Downsview Park was acting up. It would freeze up once your card history is pulled up.
EDIT: I hoped they patched the problem with machines freezing up when people remove their cards mid transaction because literally everyone was doing it.

 

[Megaton327]

Thought these pics from the TYSSE opening fit best within this thread:

1) All-in-one presto machine: vending of new cards with a custom load amount or metropass load, loading of existing cards (or balance/transaction history check), and a greyed out option for future fare options i.e. for single-ride $3.25 fares (cash or credit/debit) to get a disposable single-use paper "presto card" with which to open the faregates. I assume there will be crash collectors with one open gate until then, as things like tickets/tokens/day passes need to be accepted which this machine doesn't do.

2) Dedicated vending machine: dispenses Adult presto cards preloaded with $14 for a total payment of $20. Strange that it has two identical "adult" buttons. Maybe in the future one will be adult, the other senior. Does not do anything for people with an existing card, and the cars it sells can't be customized, you need to visit an adjacent reload machine to add more money or a pass, or a customer service outlet to have a discount e.g. senior set.

3) These are both the new 2nd-generation self serve reload machine (reload existing cards, check balance/transaction history only, no new card purchases). They appear almost identical to the original always-broken-or-slow ones, especially with the original paint job on the right, but these new ones are much more reliable, and much faster with more responsive touchscreens. The key visible difference I've been going off is the short-but-wide rectangular debit/credit tap reader, vs. the more square-ish/taller rectangle tap reader on the originals. I think they have one of these at Union and one at King too.

Overall thoughts: now THIS is an example of proper Presto support by the TTC! These are proper machines, and there were several of each type in every station (maybe one or two stations didn't have all 3 types of machines, but most did, and I think all stations have some machine combination to allow reloads+vends). I did balance/transaction history checks on both the all-in-one machine and the 2nd-gen reload machine (also used one at Union recently) and they're so much faster and more responsive than the 1st gen reload machine or the GO/UPX TVM with Presto functionality. Read a post above about problems with an all-in-one machine, which is unfortunate, but my experiences were positive, and the issue with the old ones was even when they worked they were usually slow with bad touch recognition. And finally you can easily buy presto cards outside of the fare paid area. Can't wait for all stations to get these! Wish the GO/UPX TVMs would be upgraded to be identical to the TTC all-in-one machine (no reason that its receipt printer can't print out GO single ride/day pass/group pass tickets).

Also, HOORAY, all 3 machines support tap debit/credit cards! Another thing I hate about the GO/UPX TVMs. Tap is so much more convenient, especially with things like Apple Pay--I just tap my watch and I'm done. Glad to see all types of machines support it. This'll be wonderful for single-fare purchases on the all-in-one machine, too, like the streetcars have.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

It’s only day 1 of the new extension and already one of the full service machine at Downsview Park was acting up. It would freeze up once your card history is pulled up.
EDIT: I hoped they patched the problem with machines freezing up when people remove their cards mid transaction because literally everyone was doing it.

I think something may have happened to the presto network as all of the reload machines were down in all stations today.

 

[DSC]

I think something may have happened to the presto network as all of the reload machines were down in all stations today.

Nothing about this that I can see elsewhere. People certainly seemed to be using the machines at PRESTO booths at the Line 1 festivities

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Nothing about this that I can see elsewhere. People certainly seemed to be using the machines at PRESTO booths at the Line 1 festivities

I was only at Main Street and Sherbourne and both of them were blank screens

 

[DSC]

I was only at Main Street and Sherbourne and both of them were blank screens

You said "all of the reload machines were down in all stations today." 2 stations is not "all" and the TTC was free yesterday so maybe they just turned them off.

 

[Kitsune]

The streetcars had disabled & turned off readers yesterday (with the fare box covered as well ). Maybe they some of the reload machines were turned off as well? Also, the Main reload station seems to be down more then up lately.

 

[Megaton327]

I think something may have happened to the presto network as all of the reload machines were down in all stations today.

The streetcars had disabled & turned off readers yesterday (with the fare box covered as well ). Maybe they some of the reload machines were turned off as well? Also, the Main reload station seems to be down more then up lately.

I didn't think that sounded plausible but actually yes: https://twitter.com/hmacmillanbrown/status/942899748259934208 "The way we opened all the gates at the stations yesterday meant that all the PRESTO machines went out of order. I will take this back to our stations team to see how we can keep the self-serve machines in order if the gates are in all entry mode."

 

[Megaton327]

YIKES - the $1.50 GO transfer won't apply to people who have a Metropass loaded on their Presto card. Obviously it doesn't matter when transferring from GO to TTC, but cash balance riders also get the $1.50 discount when they transfer from TTC to GO...Metropass riders will be left paying the full GO fare.

http://getpres.to/en/save-even-more-with-presto-3/

 

[11th]

YIKES - the $1.50 GO transfer won't apply to people who have a Metropass loaded on their Presto card. Obviously it doesn't matter when transferring from GO to TTC, but cash balance riders also get the $1.50 discount when they transfer from TTC to GO...Metropass riders will be left paying the full GO fare.

http://getpres.to/en/save-even-more-with-presto-3/

Is the $1.50 off GO fare technically a $1.50 off the TTC fare? I never understand who's getting the fare in this discount scheme.