In other Presto news, on September 2nd, YRT is taking over the Sutton GO bus (route 69), and replacing it with an extension of YRT Route 50 "Queensway". This particular GO route had been accepting YRT fares within York region. I'd been paying with YRT tickets, as it was impossible to pay a YRT fare via the GO bus's Presto terminal, which only took GO fares.
This trip requires a 3-zone YRT fare (and over two hours) to go from Sutton to Finch. I've been using a two-zone paper ticket to get from Sutton to Newmarket bus station, and buying a zone upgrade at Newmarket.
Originally, the only bus in York Region travelling north into Zone 3 was the Route 69 GO bus. There was a local bus circulating around Keswick, but it never left the area. So as far as I could tell, there was little opportunity to pay a multiple-zone YRT fare via Presto from Zone 3. However, with YRT buses replacing the GO Route 69 buses, this is changing.
I should theoretically be able to get on the YRT bus in Sutton, pay a 3-zone fare, and go all the way to Finch. Or vice versa. However, at Finch, the YRT Presto machines for VIVA have a button to select a 3-zone fare, but it is disabled. Apparently I am supposed to request a multiple-zone fare when I board the YRT bus. Can I request a 3-zone fare when boarding? If not, can I request a 2-zone fare boarding and get a zone upgrade on the way?
What is the default when tapping on to a YRT local bus: 1 zone? 2 zone? 3 zone? I think it's 1 zone, based on local travels in the Newmarket area.
Last week, I called YRT to ask when 3-zone YRT fares would be payable via Presto. The YRT agent said that because of 'software problems', this is not possible, and she had no information on when the situation might change. She was going to suggest continuing with paper 2-zone tickets and getting a zone upgrade, when I mentioned that was what I was doing.
(For that matter, why don't the YRT ticket machines sell 3-zone fares?)
I agree, I love using my presto card, but loading money to it is a real hassle.
In the Greater Helsinki, Finland area, smart cards can be loaded at pretty much any convenience store...
Please Metrolinx, let's not screw up something that has been done successfully all over the world.
THIS. It should be very easy to load money to the card, and the delay should be the same however you do it. This business of it being immediate if you go to an gency and taking time if you do it from home is unnecessary.
I absolutely resent that the presto readers at TTC turnstiles are mounted on the front, instead of the top. I can't think of anyplace I've been where the readers are not top-mounted on turnstiles, or at least on a slant depending on the make.
I was just thinking about this last week, when I went through College station and used the second-generation reader there. The readers need to be on top of the turnstiles. Perhaps because Presto in the TTC is kind of a pilot program, they didn't want to move the existing TTC card and token slots?
(Incidentally, the panel that lights up indicating success after you swipe your card or deposit your token needs to be at the far end of the turnstile, where you can see it after you swipe/deposit. The only thing that actually works as a signal is the confirming beep. And in a crowded station, that can blur in with all the other beeps from the other turnstiles. I've hit a non-open turnstile more than once when my Metropass or GTA Pass was not read.
From this, I think that the TTC might want to update all its turnstiles.
It will really be interesting to see what turnstiles the TTC will acquire for Spadina extension subway stations - it's about time we get some modern turnstiles!
Something I really liked in Helsinki, was that the smart card reader would give you a green and yellow light if your balance was running low (below 10 euros), but gives you only a green light if your balance isn't low, or you have a pass. The red light, like here, came on to show insufficient balance. I would like to see presto start to use this. It's easier looking at the lights than the little screen, when you're quickly boarding a bus with a line-up behind you.
I like this.