Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[JasonParis]

I do auto-reload, but due to some Christmas spending it "failed" yesterday and I got a red ding when I tapped my card on the 504 this morning. I immediately went to the onboard machines and they already only take tokens or coins (something I never have either of) and not electronic payment options. So I got off and booked a Lyft. It does feel like we are going backwards sometimes.

 

[Neutrino]

I doubt the TTC would move to lower off peak fares given how cash strapped the system is.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I doubt the TTC would move to lower off peak fares given how cash strapped the system is.

You're probably right though (so I hear, all the time) they also have downstream capacity issues which (so the theory goes), fares could be manipulated to help with. But so long as council chooses to under-fund operations - which it has now, for decades - it's not surprising that any more creative/forward-thinking ideas that might be bubbling in the heads of any given TTC employee are never likely to become reality...which is kind of my overall point, in a way.

 

[nfitz]

I doubt the TTC would move to lower off peak fares given how cash strapped the system is.

I'd think they'd implement it by hiking peak fares. Though in theory one could hike peak fares, to allow for an off-peak reduction, while remaining revenue-neutral.

 

[JamesKoole]

Presto opens up a lot of new avenues for the TTC to encourage different usage patterns. Both peak fares (higher fares during rush hours) and zones would be doable. Peak fares is likely the easier of the two since we don't have a tap off system or habits. The subway might be a good place to start with zone fares since you could more easily handle either a tap off to exit or a tap onto the next vehicle to figure out the zone crossings.

You could also do a small premium for the new 900 series express buses.

 

[hw621]

Presto opens up a lot of new avenues for the TTC to encourage different usage patterns. Both peak fares (higher fares during rush hours) and zones would be doable. Peak fares is likely the easier of the two since we don't have a tap off system or habits. The subway might be a good place to start with zone fares since you could more easily handle either a tap off to exit or a tap onto the next vehicle to figure out the zone crossings.

You could also do a small premium for the new 900 series express buses.

Not happening in a slow, lazy, bureaucratic organization as the TTC

 

[Neutrino]

Higher peak fares are a bad idea because we want to make transit more appealing, not less.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Higher peak fares are a bad idea because we want to make transit more appealing, not less.

Obviously it would be nice if fares were held down through increased subsidization but it's a practical reality and one used in many other places. You have to see the silver lining which is that if it's cheaper to ride after, say 9am, you get some people to leave a little later, creating capacity. Highway 407 does this as a matter of course though obviously it's not a direct correlation. The point is you can influence behaviour through financial incentives and while it arguably "penalizes" people who have to travel at prime time, it also encourages people who can do so to shift and encourages other more casual rides during the daytime.

As above, the specifics are less the point than that you can do A LOT of things once you have electronic fares but I get the sense TTC is just treating it like a flatter, kind of different looking token (or Metropass).

 

[Neutrino]

Many (most?) people likely won't have the flexibility to delay their start time at work. Hopefully employers further embrace work from home and flexible hours because they are suffering financial losses from their employees being stuck in traffic or in a packed subway. But I understand and take your point.

 

[muller877]

Higher peak fares are a bad idea because we want to make transit more appealing, not less.

Maybe to start we can at least charge Seniors full price for riding during rush hour. They can schedule their day to avoid the extra fare. If they can't I don't see the need to give them a discount.

 

[nfitz]

Maybe to start we can at least charge Seniors full price for riding during rush hour. They can schedule their day to avoid the extra fare. If they can't I don't see the need to give them a discount.

Or we could start charging males higher fares, based on wage disparity between males and females.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Or we could start charging males higher fares, based on wage disparity between males and females.

The wage disparity is highly debatable and what actually needs to be looked at the type of jobs. For example, when my mom retired as a teacher she was at the highest end of the pay scale and a man at the same level would make the same. What happens to make a gap between males and females in some jobs is that women are the ones that will take time off to look after families and not always come back to the same job if they end up taking a longer maternity leave then what is normally covered. Also the recent reports of female CEO and Male CEOs making different amounts of money you also need to look at the companies as whole before saying that one person is paid less then another for example if you say are comparing a company like Disney to a smaller company then it's likely the smaller company will pay their CEO less then Disney pays theirs.

 

[hw621]

The wage disparity is highly debatable and what actually needs to be looked at the type of jobs. For example, when my mom retired as a teacher she was at the highest end of the pay scale and a man at the same level would make the same. What happens to make a gap between males and females in some jobs is that women are the ones that will take time off to look after families and not always come back to the same job if they end up taking a longer maternity leave then what is normally covered. Also the recent reports of female CEO and Male CEOs making different amounts of money you also need to look at the companies as whole before saying that one person is paid less then another for example if you say are comparing a company like Disney to a smaller company then it's likely the smaller company will pay their CEO less then Disney pays theirs.

Ask them for their NOA when buying passes/tickets lol

 

[Richard White]

Folks.. enough about the wage gap. Can we keep this on topic?

 

[amnesiajune]

You could also do a small premium for the new 900 series express buses.

This would be monumentally stupid. Nobody's going to pay a premium to save 5 minutes or so on their bus trip. Look at how badly-used the TTC's existing express buses are - they're true "express" buses (as opposed to the 900-series buses which are major stops only), the premium is less than 30% for metropasses, and they're the TTC's biggest money-sinks.