Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[picard102]

Yeah I created a new card in the presto app. I wonder if you can create a third card to have one for your iphone and apple watch.

 

[T3G]

makes sense.
prevents the card from being double used at the same time.

A) don't the machines have a memory to prevent exactly this?
B) who cares how many physical times the card is being used, as long as actual money is flowing through? The credit card companies seem to have figured it out...

 

[max]

A) don't the machines have a memory to prevent exactly this?
B) who cares how many physical times the card is being used, as long as actual money is flowing through? The credit card companies seem to have figured it out...

A) The machines don't talk to each other, they talk to the cards and will keep state on them while you are in transit. The exception is credit cards, all their transactions are reconciled afterwards.
B) If someone could use the same card on their phone and watch they could hand their phone to one friend, card to another and walk themselves through a subway fare gate on one fare. Also not sure if the fare checkers used by enforcement officers will notify them that they've scanned the same card multiple times when checking a vehicle but if not they could be similarly tricked if one tap registered as a payment on multiple cards.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

A) The machines don't talk to each other, they talk to the cards and will keep state on them while you are in transit. The exception is credit cards, all their transactions are reconciled afterwards.
B) If someone could use the same card on their phone and watch they could hand their phone to one friend, card to another and walk themselves through a subway fare gate on one fare. Also not sure if the fare checkers used by enforcement officers will notify them that they've scanned the same card multiple times when checking a vehicle but if not they could be similarly tricked if one tap registered as a payment on multiple cards.

Makes sense if the goal is to speed up the system - dependent on a central server to validate each and every trip is a recipe for outage and delays.

AoD

 

[T3G]

A) The machines don't talk to each other, they talk to the cards and will keep state on them while you are in transit. The exception is credit cards, all their transactions are reconciled afterwards.
B) If someone could use the same card on their phone and watch they could hand their phone to one friend, card to another and walk themselves through a subway fare gate on one fare. Also not sure if the fare checkers used by enforcement officers will notify them that they've scanned the same card multiple times when checking a vehicle but if not they could be similarly tricked if one tap registered as a payment on multiple cards.

Fair, but couldn't this happen anyway? What's to stop someone from tapping on and then handing their card over the fare gate to a friend? In the old days when transfers were widely used this was a preferred trick of high school students who would throw them out the windows and file on without each person having a legitimate form of fare media.