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TTC: Other Items (catch all)

Megaton327 said:
Okay, tried out the machine today. Interestingly it gave me errors/said both my Debit and Credit cards were declined/unable to process the transactions, one is a CIBC Interac Debit Card, the other is a CIBC Visa Credit Card, I used the tap functions of both of them before and after this in the day with no issues so it seems to be the machine. I guess it actually isn't live yet? Maybe no network connection? Odd that the menu option would be selectable if it isn't actually set up properly. Hopefully it'll be fixed soon.

A few other notes--this machine had a software update that has removed the $0.00/greyed out 'Child' fare category for both the cash and debit/credit screens; I checked another SRVM without the reader installed and the child category was still there, so it looks like they're updating the software when they install the reader since they have to enable the credit/debit button anyways. Glad they did that, it was ugly having that needless option still in the menu. Also, note that this supports contactless cards only, unlike the Presto Self-Serve Kiosks there is NO slot to insert a chip card, even though the keypad is present. The keypad appears to do absolutely nothing on these machines, as a result.

Main menu with credit/debit enabled; shows American Express ExpressPay, Visa PayWave, MasterCard PayPass, and Interac Flash:

View attachment 58156

This is shown after tapping credit/debit, and is identical to the cash menu; note the disappearance of the previously-greyed-out $0.00 child option:

View attachment 58152

This is shown after selecting 1 adult and pressing 'pay', a screen is first shown with a 'yes' or 'no' option for having a receipt printed. Note that it says contactless card required as there is no chip slot unlike the Presto SSK. Also note that for some reason the touchscreen's 'cancel' button is not present when paying by card and it says to press any button on the PIN keypad to cancel the transaction--I tried that and it does not work, so there is currently no way to cancel a credit/debit transaction, the machine does not appear to auto-cancel for quite a while, hopefully it does so eventually.

View attachment 58153

Tap reader illuminates once the above screen comes up (i.e. once 'pay' has been pressed):

View attachment 58154

And much ado about nothing--transactions failed! I do like that the receipt shows how many of each fare category, subtotals, and a total, though. Luckily if the transaction fails it prints a receipt even if you selected not to receive one--also liking the bold 'not a transfer' text at the top.

View attachment 58155

Oh well...hopefully it'll actually go live in the next few days. This is quite an embarrassment, though, while I and other UTers for instance might be aware this is the first install/likely still being tested, this would likely be quite frustrating to a visitor to the city. Hope they fix it very soon.

Edit: forgot to mention, I rode 4403, 4407, and 4408 today, and neither of the two SRVMs on any of those three LFLRVs were equipped with the tap reader or the software update. As mentioned in an earlier post, on Queen's Quay from Spadina to Union, this reader (Queen's Quay at Spadina Eastbound) is the only one with it installed.

Edit 2: I also just realized that, for the student category, it says 'TTC Student ID Required', however the TTC hasn't required student ID for a while now. Anyone 13-19 years of age inclusive is eligible for the student rate; those 13-15 require no ID, those 16-19 require any government or school issued photo ID with their age (Driver's License, Ontario Photo Card, School Student ID).
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Call you're bank to make sure they didn't put a lock on you're account due to suspicious activity, like transactions that you didn't make. Just to be on the safe side of things, because these days Card Skimming is more often the reason behind why a Credit / Debit card with the same financial institution declining a low amount.
 
Promagstyle said:
Call you're bank to make sure they didn't put a lock on you're account due to suspicious activity, like transactions that you didn't make. Just to be on the safe side of things, because these days Card Skimming is more often the reason behind why a Credit / Debit card with the same financial institution declining a low amount.
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As I mentioned, I tried both of the cards elsewhere and they worked fine. Actually the more likely thing, and a bit of an issue with using contactless-only for transit, is that Interac Flash (not sure about Visa PayWave but I assume it's similar) requires pin verification after every $200 of contactless purchases--i.e. if you exclusively use tap, once you've used tap for $200 worth of purchases, the next transaction is declined via tap and requires you insert your chip. However, as I said, I used both of the cards contactless, not chip, very shortly afterwards the same day with no issues, so there was definitely no problem with the cards.
 
I tried the reader at QQ/Spadina again, still not functioning. However, 4405 now has the readers equipped at both on-board SRVMs, and the machines set to accept debit/credit--I tried my debit card on one of them and it worked smoothly and quickly! Saw 4410, 4407, 4403 today, no readers on them yet.

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Excellent! However their on-board SRVMs are still printing wildly incorrect transfers--the GPS location has actually been working excellently, but this car was actually a southbound 510 to Union, NOT a 509! I have had this issue before when travelling with friends/family--in fact, recently on an eastbound 509 at Fleet, a friend paid with Presto and tapped for a transfer, and it printed a transfer saying it was on 511! I'm certainly hoping that any fare inspectors would have realized there are no LFLRVs on 511 at present, but it could potentially have led to an issue--and imagine if we'd tried boarding a 6 Bay at Queen's Quay Station, for instance, with a 511 Bathurst transfer--the driver would have told him to pay again, most likely. They need to do a better job programming these.

Edit: just a small note, this showed up on my debit card transaction list as INTERAC RETAIL PURCHASE 000001001010 PRESTO FOR TTC
 

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PinkLucy said:
I never get a correct transfer when using Presto on the new streetcars
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I would totally understand if the GPS got a bad read or something, because it doesn't even really matter--old transfers didn't have the location you paid--and it says "approximate" anyways.

The route number and direction, however, is a MUCH more serious issue, and unlike GPS getting a bad read there's really no explanation for this. The 509 where my friend got a (completely impossible) 511 transfer was signed 509 Union on all exterior signs+audio announcements, announcing 509 stops, and showing up on nextbus as a 509 Union. This 510 Union that I got the 509 transfer on was similarly signed+nextbus-indicating 510 Union. No reason for the SRVMs to be set wrong. Does the driver have to walk to each of them manually, open them, reprogram them, and reboot them every time the route/direction changes, or something? One would think when the driver keys in the route number+direction for the signage, it would push an update to the SRVMs.
 
Bathurst 511 stops for Bloor St will be a thing of the past sometime this month as they are being removed.

I know I have made this recommendation to TTC commission a year or so ago to happen and I believe others have call for the same thing . A few more stops need to go as well.

The following changes along Bathurst Street will take effect by the end of November 2015:

  • Move the southbound stop that is between Bloor Street and Lennox Street to the traffic signal at Lennox Street
  • Remove the northbound stop at Bloor Street, given the close proximity to the stop in Bathurst Station
  • Move the northbound stop that is now north of Carr Street to the near side of the signal at Eden Place
 
drum118 said:
Bathurst 511 stops for Bloor St will be a thing of the past sometime this month as they are being removed.
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There is no southbound stop at Bloor, however the loss of the northbound stop is unfortunate. The stop is relatively well used, and it's another 150 metre stop to the subway. Few board here, and the streetcar invariably hits a red light here, allowing people to quickly get off. The southbound stop at Lennox simply moves about 65 metres - 2 lamposts; no surprise here, as they already built the new ramp there well over a year ago.
 
nfitz said:
There is no southbound stop at Bloor, however the loss of the northbound stop is unfortunate. The stop is relatively well used, and it's another 150 metre stop to the subway. Few board here, and the streetcar invariably hits a red light here, allowing people to quickly get off. The southbound stop at Lennox simply moves about 65 metres - 2 lamposts; no surprise here, as they already built the new ramp there well over a year ago.
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The stop south of Bloor was class as Bloor southbound and never made sense when it was so close to Lennox.

Yes the northbound will be a pain to some, but it needs to happen. I get off there from time to time and no big deal to walk back to it from the station.
 
drum118 said:
Yes the northbound will be a pain to some, but it needs to happen. I get off there from time to time and no big deal to walk back to it from the station.
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Give the stop is well used, and the streetcar invariably stops there anyway, why does it need to happen? Particularly as streetcars can take a while to get from this location, to to the station platform, when cars are backed up at the station.
 
drum118 said:
Bathurst 511 stops for Bloor St will be a thing of the past sometime this month as they are being removed.
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Excellent! Now let's encourage them to remove a few more of these utterly ridiculous stops, starting with:
  • Dundas and Bloor just south of Dundas West Station.
  • Sussex Ave on Spadina immediately prior to the tunnel entrance. It's barely 2 new streetcar lengths from the Harbord St. platform.
  • Victoria St. on the Queen car.
  • Either Bellwoods Ave. or Grace St. on Dundas.
In addition to these utterly egregious examples, there's a lot of sections where one stop could easily be pruned from a set. For example, in Little Italy on College there are 6 stops in the 1.3 km stretch between Bathurst and Ossington, including the endpoints. It would speed streetcars and traffic.
 
salsa said:
How about the Broadview & Danforth stop? It's the east-end equivalent of Bloor & Bathurst.
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Northbound perhaps - however as you can only fit 2 CLRVs and the front-door of a 3rd into Broadview station, and with 504 running every two minutes, if you are on a CLRV with several other 504 in front of you, you'll take a few minutes to get from Danforth into the station, and it's far quicker to walk. As the Flexities arrive, this will only get worse, as you can only fit one streetcar onto the platform as the second will be sticking out well onto Broadview (let alone a third).

Southbound, there's a about 250 m from the platform, past the Erindale stop, to get to Danforth. Typically people who are going no further than Dundas wait on the street for the first streetcar, rather than going into the station and having to guess which one (504 or 505) is leaving first. Perhaps having both Erindale and Danforth is redudant, but one of these stops is very useful. Erindale is already scheduled for removal.

Furthermore, I thought Broadview (and Dundas West) stations were closed after subway service ended, meaning that stops at Danforth (or Bloor) are the only choice when travelling on the 304 streetcar.
 
And yet how the westbound 29th street stop remains untouched in all this remains a mystery. Honestly this stop (along with 30th street) are probably the closest 2 stops that exist in the entire streetcar network.
 
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