TTC: New Fare Gate Installation

[smallspy]

I was greeted with this today, on a bus route that was "presto ready" since last fall.

View attachment 95272

As part of the roll-out on the bus fleet, Presto had two teams that went from garage-to-garage installing readers. They would stay there until every bus at that garage was completed, then move on to the next garage.

But the TTC was also receiving new buses, and having them delivered to a garage which was one of the early ones in the installation process. As well, there were buses that were in for long-term servicing that missed the installation process the first time around. Still others were moved around from garage-to-garage, and some were transferred without readers to a garage that was already supposed to be equipped.

The teams have since been re-dispatched to do some "mopping up" - installing readers in those buses that are newly delivered (which that photo shows one of) and in other buses that had them missed the first time around.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[threnody]

The new fare gates at Glen Road (secondary entrance to Sherbourne) have been in various states of disrepair all week. I haven't seen either of the two Metropass-reading gates operational at all. "Fortunately" the accessible gate has been broken so that I have been able to get in without a detour to the main entrance. I'm carrying a Metropass anyways, so I have a clear conscience.

 

[JamesKoole]

As part of the roll-out on the bus fleet, Presto had two teams that went from garage-to-garage installing readers. They would stay there until every bus at that garage was completed, then move on to the next garage.

But the TTC was also receiving new buses, and having them delivered to a garage which was one of the early ones in the installation process. As well, there were buses that were in for long-term servicing that missed the installation process the first time around. Still others were moved around from garage-to-garage, and some were transferred without readers to a garage that was already supposed to be equipped.

The teams have since been re-dispatched to do some "mopping up" - installing readers in those buses that are newly delivered (which that photo shows one of) and in other buses that had them missed the first time around.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

At this point in the roll out, those buses (whether new or newly rebuilt) should get readers installed and functional before they go back into service. Would they put a bus into service without a fare box? Of course not. When they TTC proclaims daily on Twitter that the whole fleet has Presto now, you need to treat Presto readers as a required part of the bus to be working before it goes into service.

 

[W. K. Lis]

1994...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154988745202042

TTC: let's wait 20 or more years, and see if that swiping problem will be fixed by then.

 

[smallspy]

At this point in the roll out, those buses (whether new or newly rebuilt) should get readers installed and functional before they go back into service. Would they put a bus into service without a fare box? Of course not. When they TTC proclaims daily on Twitter that the whole fleet has Presto now, you need to treat Presto readers as a required part of the bus to be working before it goes into service.

So they're supposed to hold almost 100 buses out of service? What routes would you like them to cut service to then?

For the record, buses do go into service without functioning fareboxes not infrequently. If it comes down to operating a bus with a non-functioning piece of equipment that isn't safety related, versus not running a bus at all, the choice becomes pretty obvious.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[JamesKoole]

So they're supposed to hold almost 100 buses out of service? What routes would you like them to cut service to then?

For the record, buses do go into service without functioning fareboxes not infrequently. If it comes down to operating a bus with a non-functioning piece of equipment that isn't safety related, versus not running a bus at all, the choice becomes pretty obvious.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Obviously not. I would like them to either stop saying that all buses, streetcars and wheel-trans vehicles have Presto, or to allocate the resources to get those readers on the 100 vehicles that don't have them.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Obviously not. I would like them to either stop saying that all buses, streetcars and wheel-trans vehicles have Presto, or to allocate the resources to get those readers on the 100 vehicles that don't have them.

Are they saying all buse or all routes because there is a big difference in that wording. It's like for example you can say that 514 is wheelchair accessible but its not 100% wheelchair accessible until all of the streetcars on it are the new ones.

 

[Megaton327]

Are they saying all buse or all routes because there is a big difference in that wording. It's like for example you can say that 514 is wheelchair accessible but its not 100% wheelchair accessible until all of the streetcars on it are the new ones.

They are saying that every single surface vehicle has Presto.

 

[smallspy]

Obviously not. I would like them to either stop saying that all buses, streetcars and wheel-trans vehicles have Presto, or to allocate the resources to get those readers on the 100 vehicles that don't have them.

Well, considering that they are doing those installations now.....

But then what about a situation where a bus or a streetcar doesn't have Presto working? Should they pull the notice down on that day?

Look, I get what you're saying, but I think that you're being a tad unreasonable about it. We are talking about a literal fraction of a percentage of the fleet not having Presto installed/working - 100 vehicles out of about 2300. For all intents and purposes, the entirety of the fleet does have Presto.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[dowlingm]

I agree that where Presto is installed and non functional because of a fault, that is just a normal operational event. However, the TTC have a history of announcing things that aren't true. Look at how we have been assured that after the 510, 509 and 514 that no more routes will be designated accessible until on a normal day all vehicles are actually accessible, rather than when the first accessible car or two is sent out. They are so desperate to announce success that they cannot help themselves with overpromising and underdelivering, even in small things - look at how Upfold stuck his neck out and said all stations will have Presto the day after the Commission meeting, and at least Coxwell was late. Either Upfold didn't give himself enough wiggle room or someone promised him it would be ready, but there was no contingency to make it happen even by 2359 on the promised day.

 

[cirez]

Any idea why they chose to install these new fair gates at the second entrance of Eglinton station before the main station? While they are more convenient then the old token/metropass entrances, the main station doesn't even have presto access yet!

 

[Leo_Chan]

Any idea why they chose to install these new fair gates at the second entrance of Eglinton station before the main station? While they are more convenient then the old token/metropass entrances, the main station doesn't even have presto access yet!

The gates will be added "soon", but they probably did the second entrance first because they were rushing for the end of 2016 with "all Stations equipped with Presto" and costs.

 

[mdrejhon]

1994...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154988745202042

1994? Pshaw!

Try 1974, where Cubic Transportation Systems fare card machines (ref) began accepting fare cards for BART, and shortly after in 1976 for the Washington Metro. I recall my first ride in the subway in the late 1970s, inserting that card in that faregate slot, and seeing two paddle gates automatically open. Being a little kid, I was a little scared of those paddle gates, but it was a magical machine of the era.

1970s-era fare gates!

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a kid, I remember these electronic faregates being gleaming brand new, the highest tech of tech of the era.

Over 35 years ago (1979-ish) -- being a 5-year-old kid shorter than the height of these very machines, I pushed the fare card carefully into the slot, it startlingly "slurped" in the card promptly. The welcoming green arrow light lit up brightly to my kid's eyes; assertively beckoning me to ENTER. And that magically-disappeared card got regurgigated on the opposite side of the fare gate. All while two paddles noisly retracted, to my startlement and astonishment. Startled, I ran through at the prompting of my parents, worried that the paddles would close on me before I made it to the other side -- like the "crush" situations in movies (like the garbage compactor scene in the 1977 Star Wars), I was very scared of the paddles in the paddle gates for a while!

Oh, and all that eye catching Brutalist architecture! And automatic computer controlled trains! Back then, it was a dazzling adventure to ride the Washington Metro back when it was gleaming new, automated trains -- and built ground up to be 100% wheelchair accessible -- with deaf-friendly platform-edge flashing lights to warn about approaching/departing trains -- one of the first subway systems in the world designed to be that fully accessible from scratch.

(My father worked in the Canadian Embassy, so I grew up in DC until Grade 3, and the Washington Metro is my first experience with rapid transit and subways. Back then it was all new. Now, it is a shame that Washington Metro, as of 2016 has been very neglected, worn, and falling apart; has major safety problems, in major need of refurbishment.)

 

[W. K. Lis]

...

(My father worked in the Canadian Embassy, so I grew up in DC until Grade 3, and the Washington Metro is my first experience with rapid transit and subways. Back then it was all new. Now, it is a shame that Washington Metro, as of 2016 has been very neglected, worn, and falling apart; has major safety problems, in major need of refurbishment.)

Any newly opened anything has teething problems. Bad parts, faulty switches, shorts, etc.. Eventually, they'll work. That's why the TTC is delaying the official switch away from tokens until most parts are actually working as specified.

Until the fiscal conservatives come on the scene that is and hold back the needed money for maintenance and refurbishment, as you mentioned with the Washington Metro (and the underfunded TTC as well).

 

[ADRM]

1994? Pshaw!

Try 1974, where Cubic Transportation Systems fare card machines (ref) began accepting fare cards for BART, and shortly after in 1976 for the Washington Metro. I recall my first ride in the subway in the late 1970s, inserting that card in that faregate slot, and seeing two paddle gates automatically open. Being a little kid, I was a little scared of those paddle gates, but it was a magical machine of the era.

1970s-era fare gates!
View attachment 95521

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a kid, I remember these electronic faregates being gleaming brand new, the highest tech of tech of the era.

Over 35 years ago (1979-ish) -- being a 5-year-old kid shorter than the height of these very machines, I pushed the fare card carefully into the slot, it startlingly "slurped" in the card promptly. The welcoming green arrow light lit up brightly to my kid's eyes; assertively beckoning me to ENTER. And that magically-disappeared card got regurgigated on the opposite side of the fare gate. All while two paddles noisly retracted, to my startlement and astonishment. Startled, I ran through at the prompting of my parents, worried that the paddles would close on me before I made it to the other side -- like the "crush" situations in movies (like the garbage compactor scene in the 1977 Star Wars), I was very scared of the paddles in the paddle gates for a while!

Oh, and all that eye catching Brutalist architecture! And automatic computer controlled trains! Back then, it was a dazzling adventure to ride the Washington Metro back when it was gleaming new, automated trains -- and built ground up to be 100% wheelchair accessible -- with deaf-friendly platform-edge flashing lights to warn about approaching/departing trains -- one of the first subway systems in the world designed to be that fully accessible from scratch.

(My father worked in the Canadian Embassy, so I grew up in DC until Grade 3, and the Washington Metro is my first experience with rapid transit and subways. Back then it was all new. Now, it is a shame that Washington Metro, as of 2016 has been very neglected, worn, and falling apart; has major safety problems, in major need of refurbishment.)

OT, but have to note that some of the DC Metro trains are still carpeted.