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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

NotMathematical said:
At best, PRESTO processes your load in about 30 minutes, but that's only for the Self-Serve Reload Machine and UP Express Fare Payment readers. I just hope they replace all the GTA readers with PNG architecture, so then these 24 Hours became at best an Hour.

I did an experiment last summer and post it to /r/toronto, and it does take about 30 minutes for your load to reach the readers.
Here's the link:
http://m.imgur.com/a/dodCT
Click to expand...
About the instant thing, this is all tied down with the new CAL bus tracking system and cellular data access for buses/streetcar. It'll allow presto readers to connected to the internet and could updated data within seconds.

BUT constant data downloading off the cellular network cost money and drain a lot more electricity for the readers to process new data. Having 2000 buses/streetcar doing that every minute will cost a lot of $$$. A more reasonable time is a few minutes while open payment transactions will instantly go through.
 
Steve X said:
About the instant thing, this is all tied down with the new CAL bus tracking system and cellular data access for buses/streetcar. It'll allow presto readers to connected to the internet and could updated data within seconds.

BUT constant data downloading off the cellular network cost money and drain a lot more electricity for the readers to process new data. Having 2000 buses/streetcar doing that every minute will cost a lot of $$$. A more reasonable time is a few minutes while open payment transactions will instantly go through.
Click to expand...

It's a minuscule amount of data when the buses are already publishing their current coordinates, speed and roue every 30 seconds. The electricity usage is negligible, all of the required equipment is already running.

What is good is that I believe the TTC has selected Clever Devices, the same system Ottawa already uses. This means the software has already been developed and bugs worked out.
 
Here are a couple close ups of the new faregates for those who are interested. They added a "presto" sticker to the card readers.
IMG_20160330_151707.jpg
IMG_20160330_151710.jpg
 

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It's really confusing. The dotted green arrow (I guess that's to tell you the side of the turnstile to enter?), the green arrow on the LCD screen, and the green pad itself. As APTA-2048 said, the touch pad should just have the Presto card icon on it. It'd be pretty logistical that you put your card on that spot then. I was in Washington DC for the first time recently, and it was pretty intuitive that I was to slap the SmartLink card on the similarly iconified touch pad. *shrugs*
 
So, where is the actual place where you scan your card for those readers?


Also, I occasionally see people try to scan their card on the huge screen on the ttc readers.
 
I don't know what you guys are thinking but I see a green thing and I'll tap my card there first. If you used presto long enough with the TTC, you will not tap the screen.

Yes they should probably just tape a presto sticker at the scanner instead.
 
APTA-2048 said:
It's a little confusing. At first glance I would have tapped the screen. They should get rid of the arrow on the screen and put a decal that looks like a Presto card over the reader.
Click to expand...
It's a lot like what they did on the streetcars, except underneath the "Tap Card Here" and the downward arrow is actually the place to tap your card. On these gates it's at least half a meter from where you should actually tap your card.
 
How fast are the doors? I wonder if they're able to do what the ones in some other systems do which is hold the gate open until an invalid fare is detected, then they close. Would be good for high volume stations.
 
P23 said:
How fast are the doors? I wonder if they're able to do what the ones in some other systems do which is hold the gate open until an invalid fare is detected, then they close. Would be good for high volume stations.
Click to expand...

No way--TTC is too paranoid about fare evasion, and to be honest in this scenario I would agree with them. Also some customers, silly as it sounds, might just see open gates and assume they pay later on and can just walk through, then have them slam shut and walk right into them.

Oh, on that note, I just thought of something--on New Year's Eve for the free rides, at Union one time since the renovation I seem to recall all of the actual triangular metal arm bits of the turnstiles having been removed so people could walk in through all of the gates. I guess with these ones they can very easily just set the gates to be open all the time? Much easier solution!
 
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