Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[Megaton327]

Are Line 1 and 97 Yonge considered different routes as well?

Yes. It is perfectly valid to transfer from Line 1 to 97--if you get on the subway at Finch and want to get somewhere partially between Lawrence and Eglinton, that can be a long walk from either station, so you'd get off at Lawrence and transfer to the 97 which makes local stops. Of course, as I think you're intimating, you could take the subway all the way downtown and the 97 all the way back north, though you'd be sacrificing a lot of time and comfort for that $3.

 

[WillTo]

Yes. It is perfectly valid to transfer from Line 1 to 97--if you get on the subway at Finch and want to get somewhere partially between Lawrence and Eglinton, that can be a long walk from either station, so you'd get off at Lawrence and transfer to the 97 which makes local stops. Of course, as I think you're intimating, you could take the subway all the way downtown and the 97 all the way back north, though you'd be sacrificing a lot of time and comfort for that $3.

One time I rode the Steeles Express bus, then rode a local bus back and it counted as a transfer.

I guess in theory you can use an Express bus, followed by a local bus (possibly in the opposite direction) to get to your final stop.

 

[amnesiajune]

The buses do not know (for now) which route they're on. You will get a bus-to-bus transfer no matter what unless you take the exact same vehicle on the second trip.

 

[Megaton327]

Finally got a look at one of the new GO/UPX Ticket Vending Machines with Presto purchasing and reload functionality! This was inside the UPX station at Union, towards the flight checkin kiosks. They've nicely denoted the added Presto features:

View attachment 99508

And I decided to document the very nice Presto reload process on these machines, it's very, very similar to the existing reload machines, it should be very intuitive for any longtime Presto user. Here, this is what appears when you press "Presto Services" then either Add Value or Transaction History:

View attachment 99507

Wow, they actually removed this machine, or at least removed the Presto functions! I was there today and it was a regular machine identical to the one next to it. I guess the rollout of these isn't going so well?

 

[somody]

Wow, they actually removed this machine, or at least removed the Presto functions! I was there today and it was a regular machine identical to the one next to it. I guess the rollout of these isn't going so well?

Same machine, actually: U0102. It looks like they took the poster off the wall, covered up all the logos, took the sticker off the card reader, and rolled the software back.

 

[whatever]

It looked like the mezzanine Presto gates were live at the south end of St Clair W this morning. So that just leaves the ones at the collector level to be replaced

 

[Mind_the_gap]

Looks like Ottawa decided to go with the same fare gates as the TTC. The only difference are the barcode readers.

Installation has begun and will be completed at all Trillium line stations this summer.

 

[Megaton327]

The only difference are the barcode readers.

I'm still in awe the TTC decided to go with paper RFID cards over barcodes. It seems like it must be significantly cheaper and less problem-prone to print QR codes than RFID chips. And IIRC a large part of why Presto didn't submit a proposal to become Grand River Transit (Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge)'s farecard was that GRT wanted barcode scanning for single-rides instead of disposable RFID...yet that's what ottawa is doing?

In general, that's neat, I didn't know Ottawa was doing faregates--they've been doing POP exclusively on the Trillium line for many years, I wasn't aware they were planning on switching. I presume this means their Confederation LRT will also use faregates. I guess the key difference vs. Toronto is that we have on-street stops for Eglinton where faregates are impractical vs. Ottawa's LRTs exclusively having full-size stations. Good decision, I've always found POP crucial for things like streetcars but for station-based LRT/heavy rail I think faregates are much smarter for reducing fare evasion...didn't Vancouver use POP on SkyTrain until very recently, and had to install gates due to rampant fare evasion?

 

[nfitz]

I'm still in awe the TTC decided to go with paper RFID cards over barcodes.

It's up to Metrolinx really, not TTC. Perhaps this part of the reason that they want to increase their take of the fare to 10%.

 

[LNahid2000]

I'm still in awe the TTC decided to go with paper RFID cards over barcodes. It seems like it must be significantly cheaper and less problem-prone to print QR codes than RFID chips. And IIRC a large part of why Presto didn't submit a proposal to become Grand River Transit (Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge)'s farecard was that GRT wanted barcode scanning for single-rides instead of disposable RFID...yet that's what ottawa is doing?

If barcodes are so much cheaper and less problem-prone than RFID chips, why have most transit systems worldwide gone with paper RFID chips for single ride tickets/day passes over barcodes?

 

[Megaton327]

If barcodes are so much cheaper and less problem-prone than RFID chips, why have most transit systems worldwide gone with paper RFID chips for single ride tickets/day passes over barcodes?

Have they? I hadn't heard that before, can you link to a statistic?

Also, by that logic, if RFID chips are cheaper and less problem prone than barcodes, why have GRT and OCTranspo gone with barcodes?

 

[rbt]

Also, by that logic, if RFID chips are cheaper and less problem prone than barcodes, why have GRT and OCTranspo gone with barcodes?

The main argument for QR codes is to allow cashless single fare purchases without needing a fare machine. Pay on an app and scan your device screen on entry. Boston commutter rail went with that option instead of Charlie Card support due to low cost; barcodes are great for POP systems. A side-effect is it allows 3rd parties (airlines, conference organizers, VIA Rail) to include OC Transpo tickets are part of their printed material.

I'm unsure how much of a benefit that'll actually be once Apple Pay/Google Pay are enabled as options by the faregate. Prior to the TTC contract this wasn't something Metrolinx was public about working on so Ottawa probably made the right choice at the time.

The unstated argument is that Ottawa can ditch Presto cards at a moments notice by issuing passes and even a balance system as a barcode on a mobile device or printed on a piece of plastic. So it might give them negotiating space to keep Presto fees lower than they might be otherwise; the province neatly side-stepped that by making Presto usage a prereq for Gas Tax payments.

 

[amnesiajune]

Also, by that logic, if RFID chips are cheaper and less problem prone than barcodes, why have GRT and OCTranspo gone with barcodes?

GRT's EasyGo fare cars system is using RFID. OCTranspo uses RFID for Presto but also needs a system to handle the year-long university/college pass (which Presto doesn't support since it doesn't exist in the GTA) and paper tickets.

 

[LNahid2000]

Have they? I hadn't heard that before, can you link to a statistic?

Also, by that logic, if RFID chips are cheaper and less problem prone than barcodes, why have GRT and OCTranspo gone with barcodes?

I don't have a statistic, but I travel a lot and use public transit everywhere I go, and the only place I've seen barcode scanning on turnstiles was on EuroStar. It was really slow by the way, with people trying to figure out how to get the reader to read the barcode properly.

My logic was that building both an RFID reader and a barcode reader into a turnstile could be more expensive upfront and result in more problems since you need to support two systems now.

 

[steveintoronto]

RFID VS BARCODES: Advantages and disadvantages comparison.
http://www.aalhysterforklifts.com.a...codes_advantages_and_disadvantages_comparison