Johnny Au
Senior Member
I just applied to get my own Presto card, seeing that I was accepted to an office position downtown.
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EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
Why didn't you just get one at one of the TTC pass vending machines or a go train station? That way you have it right away and don't have to worry about the mail, then you can register it online and use it right away.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
How do I get a PRESTO card for a senior for Christmas?
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
You have to get it programed by each system they want to use it on in person as they have to show proof of age. For Go Transit you can do it and any sation, same with UPX for the TTC you can only do it at davisville.
Megaton327
Senior Member
I have heard the pass vending machines no longer sell them. But yes, it is much more convenient to get it at a customer service outlet--many of the gateway newsstands in subway stations also sell them, now.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
I don't think this is needed. The high school student fares don't need this, at least. My cousin pays the student fare on the TTC even though his Presto card was only set up for student fares with YRT.
Megaton327
Senior Member
That is correct--Presto concession fares are, generally, universal. To be fair, this is a common misconception, even @ttchelps on twitter incorrectly tells customers they have to come get it set exclusively at davisville (wrong) for TTC in particular despite already having it set for another agency (wrong).
Child, Student, Post-Secondary Student, Adult, and Senior are universal. If you get them set on one agency, they're set for all.
What happens at time of tap is that part that's up to the agency, but that has nothing to do with where you set the classification and nothing to do with anything the passenger does. For instance, a child pays a discounted fare on most agencies, but is free on TTC. Or, I used to have a post-secondary fare on my card with GO Transit; it would make the concession sound and light up yellow instead of green when I tapped it on TTC readers, despite the TTC having no post-secondary fare for single rides on Presto--I would always be charged the $2.90 adult fare, due to that, but my LFLRV transfers would be printed with 'PS1' which is the post secondary fare code...I always hoped that wouldn't cause trouble if I got fare inspected, luckily it never came up on the TTC. Similarly, before GO/UPX fare integration/when it was $19, the UPX ticket checkers would come and tap my card on their machine to check my fare, and I glanced at the machine ones and saw a screen saying 'PS1, verify passenger identification/fare eligibility' however they just clicked 'OK' on the warning immediately, since UPX did not have a post-secondary fare at the time and my card had been billed the adult fare.
But yes, the actual setting of the fare at a customer service outlet is universal for all currently existing categories no matter where you set it. Similarly to post-secondary defaulting to adult when not available on an agency like YRT or TTC, I presume 'discounted adult' set by TTC will default to adult on other agencies...presumably any such non-matching fare code would always default to adult, and presumably transit agencies will be able to set a fare code which is exclusively for their use, e.g. the TTC will likely have different metrics for the low-income fare category than other agencies should they choose to follow suit, so I'd imagine that the discounted adult code would be one that would need to be set individually. None of the current ones need to, though.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Why isn't everything people need to know about Presto written down in a centralized location? Everyone from customers to operators seems to be guessing how it works.
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
It's not supposed to work like that as the TTC doesn't yet have student fares programmed to Preto but there is some recognition for it. Officially you are supposed to have the concession you want programed by each transit agency you want to use it with. So if you use the TTC and YRT you need to register it with both systems.
DSC
Superstar
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At least for me that was not so. Though I do not use GO often I bought my PRESTO at GO in Union Station as I was not prepared to go to Davisville, it was programmed by them as a Senior for GO, UPX and TTC. I assume it is also a Senior Card for other agencies but have yet to try it. It took about a minute!
JamesKoole
Active Member
NotMathematical
Active Member
You only need to program the card for Senior Concession at a Customer Service Outlet once, and a senior fare will be deducted on every transit system.
DSC
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The TTC page: http://ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/PRESTO/FAQ.jsp is quite helpful. It does NOT, however, say that you can get cards programmed from GO (or, I assume, any transit agency) - you do NOT need to go to Davisville. Oddly, it says that you can reload anywhere "If you need to load your card using cash, you must visit the Customer Service Centre at Davisville Station, 1900 Yonge St. or any of the 11 transit agencies’ customer service outlets that use PRESTO."
steveintoronto
Superstar
Exactly. I had no idea that's what the yellow light means, since every GO operator or service agent I asked didn't know! And I've pored over the 'help pages' and have not found that information detailed.
Just like not knowing how long your transfer is good for on the TTC, it's left for the average pleb to figure out for themselves. At least they figured out on GO that the Presto pay and Presto balance check stalks looked almost identical to the unaware user, and now colour the fare-checker ones bright yellow. Duh....there was a sizable amount of persons tapping on and off the fare-checkers, and getting dinged for failing to tap.
Megaton327
Senior Member
The TTC is really stubborn about pretending that the other GTHA transit agencies don't support Presto. Every time someone asks @ttchelps a question like "where can I reload my card using cash?" or "where can I program a concession?" their exclusive reply every single time is that you must go to Davisville, and have absolutely zero other options. That's ridiculous--in Toronto alone, in terms of station that should be open for a good range of hours/not just rush rour, you can also go to Union, Exhibition, Mimico, Long Branch, Danforth, Eglinton, Scarborough, Guildwood, Rouge Hill, UPX Bloor/Weston/Pearson, the fare agency in the retail area at York University, and the bus terminals at Yorkdale/York Mills/Finch/STC. All of those can do things like instant in-person loads with cash, and all of those except maybe York U's ticket agency and the Finch bus terminal convenience store can do concession fares.
However, ttchelps always pretends these don't exist. If a customer is at Steeles and Albion, Steeles and Markham, Lawrence and Port Union, or Lakeshore and Brown's Line, they'll be told to travel to Davisville; via transit, those respective trips all take well over an hour, despite having Pearson in the northwest, being right at long branch go in the southwest and rouge hill in the southeast, and near STC in the northeast.