Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

[W. K. Lis]

When the Peter Witt streetcar was first put into operation, it was with a two-man crew. There was the driver, who only handled the driving of the streetcar. And there was the conductor, who sold tickets, collected fares, and handled transfers. Streetcar and trailer trains had a third man in the trailer who was the conductor, handling the same functions as the conductor in the front streetcar.

People would enter the front door of the streetcar, and exit the center doors. The front part of the streetcar was the unpaid zone. The rear part of the streetcar was the paid zone. As they past the conductor, they paid their fare or showed their transfer. This was the pay-as-you-pass.

Buses had a pay-as-you-enter system. Slowly, with the introduction of the PCC streetcars, they converted the streetcars to the pay-as-you-enter system. They did keep the pay-as-you-pass on the Peter Witt streetcar and trailer train routes, such as Yonge Street and Bloor streetcars.

The Bloor Peter Witt streetcar and trailer trains were converted to PCC mult-unit streetcar trains by the early 1950's, before the Yonge subway opened. It converted to pay-as-you-enter on both front and back streetcars.

With PRESTO, we are returning to a variation of the pay-as-you-pass system.

 

[Jonny5]

Transit Usage reports are finally available now.

 

[TOareaFan]

Transit Usage reports are finally available now.

So a day early?

When will my Transit Usage Report be available?
Transit Usage Reports are available for download from March 1. You must register your PRESTO card by January 31 to receive a Transit Usage Report for the previous year.

 

[ottbike]

It was ready a few days ago.

 

[Megaton327]

I monitor a few transit-related twitter feeds closely, and noticed this tweet someone sent to @PrestoCard:

I was charged when I transferred from an eastbound 501 to the second leg of the eastbound 501. How do I receive a refund?

Presto gave a response indicating that riders should not tap on a streetcar following a short-turned one, however the rider correctly replied that they followed the TTC transfer rules which state "If you are transferring between streetcars, please tap each time you board. You will only be charged one fare."

The lack of common sense out of the TTC with respect to Presto is mind-boggling...

 

[nfitz]

It appears the way that Presto has implemented the TTC transfer rules, you can do just about any type of transfer within 2-hours EXCEPT retapping on the same route. They are still working on a fix for short-turns.

 

[pstogios]

Peter Witt

I've noticed that when you post photos from nearly 100 years ago, people don't reply.
No wonder - you're wasting our time.
It's 2016.

 

[dowlingm]

Was on the King car this morning at around 9.30 - maybe four taps between Broadview/Danforth and King/York. Doesn't sound like many but some may have tapped at Danforth Station and even those 4 would compare to maybe one tap a month ago.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I've noticed that when you post photos from nearly 100 years ago, people don't reply.
No wonder - you're wasting our time.
It's 2016.

It's the evolution of fares in Toronto. Used to be pay-as-you-pass, using 2 or 3 employees per vehicle or train (separate fare collection from driving); to pay-as-you-enter, using 1 employee handing the fare collection as well as driving; to PRESTO, using a "computer" of sort for fare collection, leaving the driving to a human (for now).

 

[FC_]

Spotted on the 510 this morning. Interesting to see what system these scanners are built on.

 

[Napoleon]

Spotted on the 510 this morning. Interesting to see what system these scanners are built on.

Did you try clicking Start?
Seriously, seems like a good excuse for not having POP if you've come to pay with Presto. I think at this point on the streetcar system, we're no longer in a trial basis. In the event that Presto is down on a streetcar, I don't think they can demand an alternate form of payment anymore.

 

[ottbike]

Yeah. The reader was down on the street car yesterday and the driver told us not to worry about it.

 

[Megaton327]

Did you try clicking Start?
Seriously, seems like a good excuse for not having POP if you've come to pay with Presto. I think at this point on the streetcar system, we're no longer in a trial basis. In the event that Presto is down on a streetcar, I don't think they can demand an alternate form of payment anymore.

For the LFLRVs if there are 4 readers and one is down, passengers are required to use one of the other 3. Even with CLRVs having 2, you can use the other one.

Currently the TTC's policy is that is Presto is down you have to pay your fare another way. Once tokens/tickets are gone they might change that, but that remains to be seen.

 

[johntauren]

Yeah. The reader was down on the street car yesterday and the driver told us not to worry about it.

I've never experienced it on the streetcar yet, but I've gotten on for free when Presto was unavailable.

At Spadina once, most of the turnstiles were gone and the collector booth closed to install the newer readers. I had gone in to buy tokens, and some workers just waved me in (even though I still needed tokens)

This past December, one weekend, the new Presto reader was being installed at Yorkdale, so one reader was gone, and the other was Out of Order. I was ready to pay by token when I saw it out of order, but the collector just sent a few of us in because we wanted to pay with Presto and couldn't.

 

[Kitsune]

Apparently transfering from Streetcar to Subway at Union has a hidden benefit if its a quick trip: