News   Jul 12, 2024
199 Church Showcases Heritage Facade and Artwork at Street Level
 1.3K     0 
News   Jul 12, 2024
Six Points Plaza Redevelopment Advances With 36-Storey First Phase
 1.1K     1 
News   Jul 12, 2024
Trading Spaces: Can Real Estate Conversion Help Boost Housing Supply?
 387     0 

Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

TheTigerMaster said:
If Metrolinx pulled the same nonsense in Toronto, I'd be eager to pull out of the Presto program, gas tax revenue be damned.
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see how the negotiations with the 905 operators conclude. Metrolinx has proposed to reopen the current service agreements, and renegotiate the rates for these customers, with substantial increases. One hears muttering about this out there.

Check out the Mississauga City Council minutes, May 25 2016 meeting, for some documentation re this.

https://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/committees/council/2016/05_25_2016_Council_Agenda.pdf

- Paul
 
Just another little inconvenience of presto.

I though about setting up an autoload of $29.00 (10 TTC trips) every time the balance drops to $2.90.

Your Autoload amount must exceed $20.00 and be a multiple of $10.00.
Click to expand...

Nope. Sorry. That's way too complicated for us.
 
That's fine if you only use TTC, but if you also use other transit, it doesn't matter. I use both GO and TTC so round numbers work fine for me
 
Jonny5 said:
Just another little inconvenience of presto. I though about setting up an autoload of $29.00 (10 TTC trips) every time the balance drops to $2.90.

Your Autoload amount must exceed $20.00 and be a multiple of $10.00.
Click to expand...

Nope. Sorry. That's way too complicated for us.
Click to expand...

Seems more like a petty grievance than something that's actually incovenient.
 
PinkLucy said:
That's fine if you only use TTC, but if you also use other transit, it doesn't matter. I use both GO and TTC so round numbers work fine for me
Click to expand...

It's a question of why. Why would such a seemingly random restriction be deliberately programmed in to the system to force an auto-load be a multiple of $10.00? What reason is there for that? Why was time spent to accomplish this?

The minimum of $20.00 is obviously about interest collection. Get 2 million cards on autoload with a minimum of $20 and you essentially permanently bank $40 million dollars and get all of the interest.
 
Jonny5 said:
It's a question of why. Why would such a seemingly random restriction be deliberately programmed in to the system to force an auto-load be a multiple of $10.00? What reason is there for that? Why was time spent to accomplish this?
Click to expand...

Perhaps its to simply the computational time and streamline programming logic? Either way, youre starting to over-analyse this. Lets get back to more important topics in the thread
 
Jonny5 said:
It's a question of why. Why would such a seemingly random restriction be deliberately programmed in to the system to force an auto-load be a multiple of $10.00? What reason is there for that? Why was time spent to accomplish this?
Click to expand...

The one reason I can imagine is transaction fees from credit card companies (at least the lower bound)? In any case, the system seem to have inherited the best aspects of TTC token machines. <head desk animated gif>

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The one reason I can imagine is transaction fees from credit card companies (at least the lower bound)? In any case, the system seem to have inherited the best aspects of TTC token machines. <head desk animated gif>
AoD
Click to expand...

Don't give them ideas.
"Load $20 and get 6 rides and $2.60 refunded to your credit card."
 
W. K. Lis said:
Now we know the reason why the MetroPass is still around. Because of the interest free loans at the start of each month the TTC gets.
Click to expand...
That is hardly news, it's how any pre-payment system works and is the case with PRESTO too. With interest rates currently so low I doubt it actually makes much difference but I suppose 'every little helps".
 
DSC said:
That is hardly news, it's how any pre-payment system works and is the case with PRESTO too. With interest rates currently so low I doubt it actually makes much difference but I suppose 'every little helps".
Click to expand...

We would need to know more about how the TTC manages its cash flow to know if this really helps. I have tokens sitting around that I bought many weeks ago, whereas passes limit the term of prepayment to a month or less. Fuel is purchased before I drop the token in the box, but wages have a paycheque date that is later than my ride. It's something accountants can argue forever over a beer.

At the end of the day, a subscription to a pass assures the TTC of 12 guaranteed cash deposit dates per year, with lower collection cost, where cash fares or tokens will be variable with ridership and have fare collection costs. My typical Presto load is less than a monthly pass purchase, but greater than the number of tokens that I habitually purchase. Am I loaning more money with Presto? It likely balances out to nothing.

- Paul
 
Jonny5 said:
Just another little inconvenience of presto.

I though about setting up an autoload of $29.00 (10 TTC trips) every time the balance drops to $2.90.



Nope. Sorry. That's way too complicated for us.
Click to expand...
This stupid minimum is the main reason I've never considered autoload. I have a Presto card and use transit maybe once a month, so it's better for me to just load $5-$10 whenever I plan to take a trip rather than having $20 randomly added from my credit card, and possibly sitting there for months.
 
LNahid2000 said:
This stupid minimum is the main reason I've never considered autoload. I have a Presto card and use transit maybe once a month, so it's better for me to just load $5-$10 whenever I plan to take a trip rather than having $20 randomly added from my credit card, and possibly sitting there for months.
Click to expand...

To each their own...
The min was set with the frequent user in mind who would inject alot at one time. For the infrequent user they have the manual load which would make sense
 
There is a partial neutralizer to the 'missing interest' aspect: Pay with a fee free credit card that pays you (roughly 2%, from memory, mine is in Air Miles, and I've yet to collect) for every transaction.

For example:
[...]These no-fee cards offer the same rewards when put to the test. The Tangerine Money-Back credit card earns 2% on two spending categories of your choice and 1% on everything else. Customers with a Tangerine savings account can also add a third cash-back category earning 2% (as we assume here). Contrast that with the Amex’s SimplyCash card, which earns a flat 1.25% on every purchase. The Amex card also offers insurance perks like car rental insurance, which you don’t often see on a no-fee card.[...]
Click to expand...
http://www.moneysense.ca/spend/credit-cards/best-cash-back-credit-cards-of-2016/
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top