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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

ticky said:
This has probably been asked before: If I get onto a TTC bus on a route they have advertised as being Presto-enabled and the reader/s don't work and/or the bus doesn't have a Presto reader, I ride for free and shouldn't be expected to pay with another method, correct?
Click to expand...

You'll be expected to tap on at the next location, where possible. Like, say, if you're transferring to another route.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
I'm genuinely surprised Presto has such low usage in Hamilton. I've visited Hamilton a few times in the past year, and whenever I'm HSR I felt as if most people were using Presto. And I've never had any problems with Presto on HSR. But obviously I'd trust the experience of HSR staff; theyd know better than me.

7% usage is shockingly low. That may very well be less than the Presto usage on the TTC.
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I suspect the figure is lagging. I'm sure latest figures would show a marked increase in use, esp in Toronto since such an effort has been made to implement it.
 
steveintoronto said:
I suspect the figure is lagging. I'm sure latest figures would show a marked increase in use, esp in Toronto since such an effort has been made to implement it.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the number has increased. But no matter how you slice it, 7% usage in Hamilton is terrible, especially since Hamilton has been Presto-enabled for years. It's not as if 90% of commuters in Hamilton are Toronto-bound.

Are people in Hamilton generally buying $2.30 paper tickets for HSR? I have a hard time believing 93% of their commuters are opting for the $3.00 cash fare over the $2.30 Presto fare.
 
ticky said:
This has probably been asked before: If I get onto a TTC bus on a route they have advertised as being Presto-enabled and the reader/s don't work and/or the bus doesn't have a Presto reader, I ride for free and shouldn't be expected to pay with another method, correct?
Click to expand...

According to the TTC website at this link:

The PRESTO electronic fare payment system is rolling out across the TTC. It is one piece of the TTC’s modernization efforts. All new and legacy streetcars, more than half of the TTC subway stations and an increasing number of TTC buses have PRESTO. By the end of 2016, PRESTO will be installed at, at least one entrance at all subway stations, and rolled out on all buses, including Wheel-Trans vehicles and accessible taxis. During the transition you should carry tickets, tokens or cash, in case your streetcar, subway station or bus does not yet have PRESTO.
Click to expand...

You must pay by ticket, token, or cash, if PRESTO is not available.

And from this link:

When will tokens and tickets stop being accepted?
These details are still being determined however, tokens and tickets will still be accepted in 2017.
Click to expand...
 
W. K. Lis said:
According to the TTC website at this link:



You must pay by ticket, token, or cash, if PRESTO is not available.

And from this link:
Click to expand...

That is not entirely correct. You are correct that if the vehicle does not have a reader, you must pay your fare some other way. However, at the TTC Presto FAQ under "PRESTO on TTC buses" it states:

What if the PRESTO card readers are out-of-service on a bus?
If all PRESTO card readers are out-of-service, you will be allowed to board and asked to tap your PRESTO card on the next bus or at a subway station.
Click to expand...

This has also been confirmed, I kid you not, dozens of times by Brad Ross on twitter @bradttc however that's due to the problem with this policy: they've either a) not told this to a single bus/streetcar driver, or b) their unionized employees can't be bothered to care to do their jobs properly. So customers are being incorrectly denied boarding.
 
ticky said:
This has probably been asked before: If I get onto a TTC bus on a route they have advertised as being Presto-enabled and the reader/s don't work and/or the bus doesn't have a Presto reader, I ride for free and shouldn't be expected to pay with another method, correct?
Click to expand...

This is correct, Brad Ross confirmed this. I posted it on this thread somewhere, too lazy to search for it.
 
wopchop said:
For reference, does anyone remember what were the old costs for collecting fares manually?
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When the TTC studied building their own smartcard system, they calculated the cost of "fare related activities and services" for 2006 at $53.7 million (here's the report, see page 186). Their estimated revenue in that year's budget was $763 million (here's a link to the operating budget), so that works out to around 7% of revenue. I've seen a 5% figure stated for the TTC but I'm not sure where that comes from.
 
wopchop said:
For reference, does anyone remember what were the old costs for collecting fares manually?
Click to expand...

Probably between 7% and 12%; I don't know Ottawa's figure but that's where larger agencies tend to sit (London is on the higher end, Toronto on the lower end). However, Ottawa already paid the Presto capital cost upfront; with Toronto that capital piece is included in their %age fee. So Ottawa has already sunk tens of millions into Presto buying and installing the readers.

So Ottawa's fee is really 6% plus some sunk cost, not to mention getting a botched launch.
 
Hackers took down the Muni transit system's computers, rendering its fare-payment cards useless, so San Francisco transit officials were forced to let commuters ride for free.
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Apparently that was just done as a precautionary measure. None of the customer-facing systems were hacked, but the ticket machines were shut down to protect customer info while the internal computer systems were being repaired.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...641070.php?t=890806226a&cmpid=twitter-premium
 
amnesiajune said:
Apparently that was just done as a precautionary measure. None of the customer-facing systems were hacked, but the ticket machines were shut down to protect customer info while the internal computer systems were being repaired.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...641070.php?t=890806226a&cmpid=twitter-premium
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Then explain this:
"The hacker displayed messages on otherwise dark computer screens declaring “You hacked,” and asking for 100 bitcoins, a digital currency, or about $73,000. Muni never communicated nor negotiated with the hacker, Rose said. Instead, Muni officials relied on advice from federal officials and a backup system to restore the network.".

They refused to submit to the ransom demand, and absolute kudos to them for that, but they were hacked.
 
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