hw621
Senior Member
Fair concern. Nevertheless the option should be available. Those who choose to use the phones should make sure their phones are charged, or they will be ticketed.
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Those of us who use our phone for other purchases would indeed appreciate having a mobile app tap feature. Presto is the only physical card I have to carry.
hw621
Senior Member
I try using my phone when I can. However Apple Pay and Android Pay have $100 limit, which makes it impossible not to carry the cards.
Yes, sorry, I wasn't thinking about credit cards but rather things like my Starbucks card. My bad.
Megaton327
Senior Member
Honestly, even with that limit it is rare for me to take out my physical card. If I'm alone at a restaurant, or splitting a bill, it's under that, and many restaurants' readers are starting to accept tap now. I tend to do small batches of grocery shopping more frequently, so that's usually under 100. Big ticket electronics/computer purchases tend to be online for me. At this point I take out my credit card maybe 2 or 3 times a month, for the occasional large grocery shopping run or group restaurant dinner that I'm covering, and the ultra-rare establishment that doesn't accept tap, and that's it. It's even better for me since I use my apple watch to pay so I don't have to take my phone out.
But yes, you do have to keep the cards. That said, if driver's licenses and health cards were allowed to be kept digitally here, and if a few holdout stores started offering digital copies of their cards (looking at you, Costco and Ikea), plus Presto, all I would realistically need to carry physically would be one credit card (no debit card if ATMs were to start accepting apple pay like in the US) for large purchases and $40 in emergency cash, in addition to my phone and my house/car keys. I would probably switch to one of those phone cases with card slots at that point for the 1 card and 2x$20 bills. And as for keys, the new Tesla Model 3 is primarily unlocked and started with a phone, it's only a matter of time before car keys disappear, and there are tons of home smart locks on the market now.
As for the frequent argument against making Presto, and all this other stuff, go on the phone because the battery might run out, I'm an adult and am capable of taking responsibility for myself. I have never once had my cell phone run out of battery since my first one in about 2006. I've had a flip phone, then iPhone 3G, 4, 4S, 5, 6+, 6S+, and 8+, and my battery has never gone below 50% on any of them with one exception, the 6S+ which ended up with a bad charging port so when I plugged it in at night one day I woke up and didn't notice it hadn't charged, but wireless charging has abated that concern and I now carry a phone charger with me for emergencies during any extended outing. And my apple watch, which is what I use for apple pay and what I would use for Presto, has never gone under 50% since getting it in 2015.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
A Starbucks card is just a barcode that has to be read. You could print it on a sheet of paper and it would work fine. It's very different from an RFID transit farecard. And like I've said many times, it would be a nightmare to operate here. They wouldn't be able to ticket anyone who has a dead phone and claims they tapped their phone, and lots of people would be getting into the mess of a frozen Presto card because their phone died and they didn't tap off.
hw621
Senior Member
Well said. Nevertheless I believe the $100 limit should be increased, with inflation $100 do not go very far.
hw621
Senior Member
Again we are adults we should take our own responsibility.
@Megaton, I store non-credit cards (except Costco) in the Uno app, even my library card. As for Presto, I agree with you that the "sky is falling" argument against potential dead phones is exactly that, a Chicken Little approach.
steveintoronto
Superstar
http://news.trimet.org/2017/08/just...t-with-hop-now-as-easy-as-tapping-your-phone/
https://www.rideuta.com/Fares-And-Passes/Electronic-Fares
There's a lot more, but two should suffice to make the point.
Toronto, it might actually become a world city some day. If the batteries don't go dead...
Addendum: And both those US cities are a fraction of the size of Toronto.
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Voltz
Senior Member
Can anyone comment on if Presto works reliably on Hamilton and Burlington transit? Since I will have to be heading out there in a while and I have heard that the readers and equipment often don't work, particularly in Hamilton.
Megaton327
Senior Member
I've never heard that. I've only visited the Hamilton a couple of times but it always worked. I believe HSR and Burlington Transit have the same policies as every other GTHA transit agency, which is that if the presto reader is broken, you ride for free--any locals here please correct me if that is inaccurate.
hw621
Senior Member
TTC confirmed that Presto is working on open payment solution, i.e., one can tap their credit/debit cards to pay the cash fare. Since it is NFC based technology mobile payment apps (Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay etc.) should also work. But I really hope that they will have a mobile solution for Presto itself so I can use my phone and get the discounts.
Voltz
Senior Member
It was quite a while ago that I last heard that, mainly about Hamilton, and that their Presto utilisation by riders was low because of problems with it working.
Megaton327
Senior Member
Yes, debit/credit/apple pay/google pay tap payment is supposed to come online this year for the TTC. But indeed, that will likely be the $3.25 full cash fare as it currently is on the LFLRVs, and would not be eligible for things like the GO discount or the 2-hour timed transfer. Presto has finally been more specific and they're now saying that they will have some form of mobile app out this year, but I'm worried it might solely be a balance checking/card loading app which, while useful and long, long overdue, should really have full Apple Pay integration by this point.