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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

TOareaFan said:
Does Presto signal the end of the GO-Via Pack? Currently it relies upon the conductor of the train seeing that the passenger presenting the coupon book has, either, a monthly GO pass or a cancelled ride on a 10 ride ticket........if all the passenger has done is "tap" his presto at the GO station how would the conductor know that they use of the GO-Via pack is valid? Are VIA conductors on the effected routes going to have little mini-portable Presto readers strapped to their hips?
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The GO-Via Pak (note the "kool" use of the "k") has always been purely a Via product, and while I'm Googling up a cached mention of it on the old version of the GO website, it isn't even mentioned on the current one. (Via's page about it is here).

I'm pretty sure that Via's assumption is users of the GO-Via Pak would stick with the "classic" GO fare media, which, after all, will continue to be issued until some still-undecided sunset date in the ballpark of 2012 or 2013. One would hope that Via will realize their product is about to become outmoded sometime before then and figure out a way to work in Presto compatibility. Otherwise it will have to croak once the classic GO tickets and passes are removed from circulation. Anyone have any idea how popular these things are?
 
Platform 27 said:
The GO-Via Pak (note the "kool" use of the "k") has always been purely a Via product, and while I'm Googling up a cached mention of it on the old version of the GO website, it isn't even mentioned on the current one. (Via's page about it is here).

I'm pretty sure that Via's assumption is users of the GO-Via Pak would stick with the "classic" GO fare media, which, after all, will continue to be issued until some still-undecided sunset date in the ballpark of 2012 or 2013. One would hope that Via will realize their product is about to become outmoded sometime before then and figure out a way to work in Presto compatibility. Otherwise it will have to croak once the classic GO tickets and passes are removed from circulation. Anyone have any idea how popular these things are?
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Very popluar with me......and I never seem to be alone when I am using it.
 
TOareaFan said:
Does Presto signal the end of the GO-Via Pack?
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No time soon. GO has already indicated that the 10-ride tickets will be available for a few years after Presto is introduced, for example; and as others have noted, VIA hasn't signed onto Presto.
 
nfitz said:
No time soon. GO has already indicated that the 10-ride tickets will be available for a few years after Presto is introduced, for example; and as others have noted, VIA hasn't signed onto Presto.
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Thanks....monthly passes surviving for a few years too? the Via thingy works with them too.
 
Noticed on my commute home today that Presto readers appear to be fully installed at St. Patrick station.
 
New pipes were being installed in the underground passageway at Exhibition today; are these being used for PRESTO wiring, or are they for something else entirely?
 
I believe they have to move some conduits for the extension of the existing tunnel to link the north platform with Atlantic Avenue on the north side of the tracks after they turn it into an island platform.
 
Mapleson said:
I believe they have to move some conduits for the extension of the existing tunnel to link the north platform with Atlantic Avenue on the north side of the tracks after they turn it into an island platform.
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When you say an island platform do you mean a centre platform serving, both, east and westbound trains? For that station I think that is a mistake. At peak times (during the Ex and after TFC matches as example) the platforms are packed, often with "ocassional users" and the confusion and safety issues of large crowds trying to figure out where to stand and what train to board could make for some interesting times.
 
I was wondering what was happening with the May launch of Presto - given that tomorrow is May 1st.

No sign of life on the Presto website - https://www.prestocard.ca/Home/Index

The Burlington Transit website is quite informative - http://cms.burlington.ca/Page5756.aspx (there's a memorable URL!)

•ADULT riders can begin to use the PRESTO card on BT beginning May 10, 2010.
•Senior, Student & Child fare categories will be launched in the Fall of 2010.
•Burlington GO Stations will launch PRESTO as follows:
◦Appleby GO, May 24
◦Burlington GO, May 31
◦Aldershot GO, June 7​
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The Burlington website also indicates that Presto cards will be on sale on the Presto website starting on Monday (May 3rd), and that the cards will also work in Oakville and GO Transit (no indications how far) in May.

There doesn't seem to be any current information about the launch on the Oakville, GO, or TTC sites.

I'd assume the first 7 TTC stations (Union, Bloor/Yonge, College, Dundas, Queen’s Park, St. George, St. Patrick) would also start soon. For downtown commuters that use tokens, this might help avoid the token shortage issues and line-ups.
 
I am starting to think that maybe the TTC should make the Yonge extension conditional on the province paying for Presto. Good way to wring something out of the province for their 905 subway fetish.

And that's, of course, in addition to the DRL.
 
This is from a bit ago, but it doesn't seem to have been mentioned here:

Pantalone slams TTC for lack of 'smartcard'

Deputy mayor Joe Pantalone chastised the TTC for not being more open to the kind of modern "smartcard" fare system that will allow transit riders to move freely throughout the GTA and won final approval in Toronto yesterday.

He said the commission employed a disturbing "how dare those guys ask us to do something" tone regarding Ontario's new PRESTO card that has been championed by Metrolinx and GO Transit and will roll out fully in neighbouring municipalities before Toronto.

"The provincial government is where we go to for money in terms of getting transit built ... so it's perfectly appropriate for them to move us into the new technological age, if you will, in terms of having smartcards. That's the future," Mr. Pantalone told councillors at yesterday's executive council meeting.

While he agrees the city shouldn't be writing a blank cheque, he said the TTC should be more open to this type of technology, and the perception is that it's not. "It's not the age of let me put my ticket in there, and punch it in ... sorry, those days are fast moving out," Mr. Pantalone said. "We have to facilitate the moving on, rather than hinder it."
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DHLawrence85 said:
That should be quite the project; do you have a profile on it? Couldn't find anything on the GO website.
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It was RQQ-2009-SI-20 (Detail Design for Station Improvements at Exhibiton GO Station). Excerpts can be found here.


TOareaFan said:
When you say an island platform do you mean a centre platform serving, both, east and westbound trains? For that station I think that is a mistake. At peak times (during the Ex and after TFC matches as example) the platforms are packed, often with "ocassional users" and the confusion and safety issues of large crowds trying to figure out where to stand and what train to board could make for some interesting times.
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An island platform does have tracks on both sides, in this case north and south of the platform. A platform with one access track being a side platform.

I don't know what the final operational layout for GO will be, but it wouldn't make sense to have eastbound and westbound trains boarding from the same platform at the same time for all the reasons you say. Otherwise, the wider platform will help with some of the platform crowding issues.
 
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