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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

I am miffed that if you miss a tap-off on GO, presto not only charges you the max fare the corridor, it also does not count that trip toward your loyalty trip total. If you are traveling a long distance every weekday, or often enough to pass the 35 ride threshold each month, a missed tap-off may ultimately cost over $10 in fees.
 
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Jonny5 said:
I am miffed that if you miss a tap-off on GO, presto not only charges you the max fare the corridor, it also does not count that trip toward your loyalty trip total. If you are traveling a long distance every weekday, or often enough to pass the 35 ride threshold each month, a missed tap-off ultimately costs well over $10 in fees.
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If it's a trip you make often you can make it your default trip so you don't have to tap off. It will charge you the full amount as soon as you tap on. Yoiu can do this by going to the ticket both at Union or at the station you use most.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
If it's a trip you make often you can make it your default trip so you don't have to tap off. It will charge you the full amount as soon as you tap on. Yoiu can do this by going to the ticket both at Union or at the station you use most.
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My trip in to Toronto in the morning is usually from Oakville to Union, whereas my trip home is from Union to either Clarkson or Port Credit.
On weekends I also very frequently ride from Clarkson to Hamilton. I don't want to bother with hitting override 75% of my trips.
 
Jonny5 said:
I am miffed that if you miss a tap-off on GO, presto not only charges you the max fare the corridor, it also does not count that trip toward your loyalty trip total. If you are traveling a long distance every weekday, or often enough to pass the 35 ride threshold each month, a missed tap-off may ultimately cost over $10 in fees.
Click to expand...

Ultimately the best solution to reverse a missed-tap off is to call GO Transit so they can refund you the difference from the missed-tap off.
 
nfitz said:
Looking at the photo, they aren't installed, just dropped off. Particularly as that photo is from the middle of the station looking north towards the bus platforms - not near the entrance.

I assume then that they'll stick one in most stations until they get rid of passes, and then change it to Presto. I see 7 faregates there - but two are backwards. 5 clearly have Presto, one has Metropass - but I can't see what the other has.

It's interesting to see that they are only readers to tap in, not tap out - but presumably they can be easily modifired.

Thanks for posting this!
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It's interesting that they don't have PRESTO readers on both ends, as I thought they would be capable of processing tap offs for potential future use. It's also interesting that the gate with the Metropass reader doesn't also have a PRESTO reader, I would have thought those two things would be compatible. It does look like the metal cap on each end of the gate can be opened up with a key lock, and likely easily swapped for one type or another.
 
Catenary said:
It's interesting that they don't have PRESTO readers on both ends, as I thought they would be capable of processing tap offs for potential future use. It's also interesting that the gate with the Metropass reader doesn't also have a PRESTO reader, I would have thought those two things would be compatible. It does look like the metal cap on each end of the gate can be opened up with a key lock, and likely easily swapped for one type or another.
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I think that's the answer. You can swap stuff in later. No point putting Presto on both sides of hundreds if not a a thousand gates now, if you don't need it.

And presumably someone in early 2017 will simply swap out the 1 or 2 Metropass readers in each station. Many of the busier stations downtown already have Presto/Metropass installed in the old gates, so a lot of what's left shouldn't need more than 1 Metropass reader per fareline.
 
I haven't seem much at Main Street station recently but did see a guy with a construction vest with Presto on the back of it go inside and it looked like there were about three or four others inside the construction area. The last couple of days there has also been a construction worker standing in front of the doors.
 
Attention fellow Torontonians, here are a few easy ways to avoid paying the fare at your new fare gates (hope someone from the TTC reads this).

My experience comes from Stockholm, Sweden, where similar fare gates have been in place for several years now, and the Swedes have become experts at tricking them.

The most common methods are:
(1) Sneaking in through the gate directly behind a person who pays their fare (the gate will not immediately close as long as the sensors detect a person);
(2) Thanks to not having a tap-off requirement yet, you can throw a piece of clothing (e.g. a sweater or a coat) over the gate to trick the sensors on the opposite side into thinking someone is trying to exit (I can see this becoming a problem at unmanned entrances).

Here's a video from a Swedish organization devoted to fare evasion, demonstrating these methods. The only difference is, in Stockholm their gates open sideways (doors go into the gates), ours will open inwards and outwards. This however is irrelevent, as the sensors function the same way. Enjoy!


Stockholm has had a very hard time combatting these methods. They have added a loud alarm and strobe lights at the gates if they are held open for too long, and it is common to see fare enforcement at the fare lines downtown, at the top of escalator banks, and on-board subway trains. But aside from that, there isn't much they can do. It doesn't help the same organization that made the video will pay your fare evasion fines, if you pay them a small monthly fee (about $15 CAD).

I'm not advocating fare evasion, just showing what the TTC can expect once these new fare gates are widely implemented.
 
Ya dangling purses over the fare gate to trick it into thinking someone was exiting was a favourite amongst my Spanish friends when I lived in Madrid.

I was the good Canadian who refused to partake... Unless pushed through.
 
Filip said:
Ya dangling purses over the fare gate to trick it into thinking someone was exiting was a favourite amongst my Spanish friends when I lived in Madrid.

I was the good Canadian who refused to partake... Unless pushed through.
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One side-effect of the low subsidies TTC has is that service starts to be removed when enough people do this kind of thing.
 
rbt said:
One side-effect of the low subsidies TTC has is that service starts to be removed when enough people do this kind of thing.
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If people are willing to take a chance and break the law, there are always ways in.

Simply walking through the bus entrance is the simple answer at most stations.
 
Sorry for the cross-post but I think it's relevant to this thread too. Found this re: UPX fare change: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/projectsandprograms/upexpress/youchoose/go.aspx

Where do I tap on/off?
From Bloor or Weston
For travel between Bloor, Weston and Toronto’s Union Station, continue to tap on and/or off on the PRESTO fare payment device. Once you’ve tapped on, you can decide whether you want to take GO Transit or UP Express. You’ll continue to get your loyalty discount as long as your tap ON/OFF on the GO Transit PRESTO fare payment device.

Also:
*For a short period, while we implement technological changes, there will be a slight difference between GO and UP fares between Bloor and Weston GO Stations. A thirty five cent ($0.35) difference will be eliminated later this spring when the GO fares at these two stations are adjusted.
 
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