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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

Allandale25 said:
Announcement tomorrow:

2KRA6tT
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Here's the announcement:

https://bikesharetoronto.com/news/bike-share-toronto-expands-to-new-neighbourhoods/

1000 new bikes and 90 new bike stations. Nothing to do with PRESTO, really.
 
So what's the general gist of Presto at the moment? Has the system gotten over its earlier performance/implementation issues and tarnished image- or are there still kinks to iron out?

How would Presto be compared to other transit cards? Better? Worse? Was developing an entirely new system worth it, or should the GTA have gone for an off-the-shelf system?
 
I did, but as with all discussion, it always spirals into ongoing changes and details that only give a piecemeal understanding of the situation, rather than the big picture. It's too easy to gain a negative impression from earlier bad news without realizing that incremental changes might have improved the system to a point where it can compete against other systems around the world.

My feeling was that the system still has some small system kinks to iron out and a full deployment on the TTC to finish, but that it works as-is? Not as time-tested or well-integrated with society as with some systems elsewhere, but it does the job?
 
i've been using presto for 5 years now - including the TTC for much of that (back at the start most of my trips were conveniently between the few subway stations that were equipped), and from an end users perspective, I've always found the media reports to vastly over-blow the issues. For my use, from day one it's been a pretty nice card.

There are yet more features planned in the next little while that will finally bring the system up to the promises initially made oh so long ago.
 
My impression of it now (as a TTC user) is that it generally works now.

Occasionally on a bus I have to use the back machine, but generally the problems with gates and readers have been resolved.. I auto top up so that has never been an issue.
 
innsertnamehere said:
i've been using presto for 5 years now - including the TTC for much of that (back at the start most of my trips were conveniently between the few subway stations that were equipped), and from an end users perspective, I've always found the media reports to vastly over-blow the issues. For my use, from day one it's been a pretty nice card.

There are yet more features planned in the next little while that will finally bring the system up to the promises initially made oh so long ago.
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I feel the same way. I have never encountered a serious problem using Presto. As best I can tell, I've never been overcharged. The only thing I've encountered, really, is the odd broken device.

I don't load my card online, but I've never needed to. I always find time to do it at the station.
 
Does anyone know which of the old Presto cards are getting unsupported? I think I read somewhere a fare inspector or reader rejected a card and the person was told they needed to buy a new card. Is there a specific date or version of the card that’s getting unsupported or did I hear wrong?
 
I have relatives coming from outside of Canada. Cannot find any information for a non-PRESTO tourist.

Cash fares are still available, including manned subway entrances. But what happens after we go PRESTO only. Is there a cash or tourist or visitor option.

This includes non-transit users like Doug Ford, who probably wouldn't use public transit even if there was a subway station next to his place of work (which he does have).
 
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I have people coming over to Toronto. They have been happy buying themselves a PRESTO card. With that you get a discount fare using the UPX and that pays off the extra fee for the card after two rides. Even senior discounts can be added to the card if you go the GO train concourse at Union. Also the new PRESTO machines are very easy to use. No one seemed to have a problem using them!

Yes, there will be kind of a paper PRESTO, but will it be really so necessary?
 
... whenever I travel I more then happy buy a fare card. Way simple to use... all be it loading it can sometimes be a challenge in non-english countries. I assume many many tourists coming here will do the same.
 
Kitsune said:
... whenever I travel I more then happy buy a fare card. Way simple to use... all be it loading it can sometimes be a challenge in non-english countries. I assume many many tourists coming here will do the same.
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Agree 100% - though many places do not charge so much ($6) as we do for PRESTO cards and many offer free (not-reloadable) cards with x day unlimited travel.
 
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