sorry if this has been asked/answered before but it just dawned on me as I walked through the exhibition station on Thursday and I don't feel like flipping back to see.
How many (typically) card readers get installed at each GO station? I think GO got a lot more convenient to board and ride when they introduced the POP system years ago and dispensed with people having to show tickets and passes as they passed through the station. The points of access to the platforms and trains were freed from having to funnel people through specific points and some passengers (monthly passholders) never had to stop or pause at all.
Now, once everyone converts to Presto, we will go back to a system where everyone has to enter at the same point(s) to tap onto the Presto machine......if there are not a significant number of machines at each station it may be a step backward in terms of train boarding.
At the ex station (from the north side at Atlantic) there is one reader. I don't think it is a huge issue there because there really is only one door to the station there anyway so everyone will pass that reader (but even there if there is someone having difficulty it will hold everyone else up).
Any ideas on the typical number per station?
Each GO Station is getting at least PRESTO machine at this time. I assume they'll expand it in the future for other station access points, but covering all their bases first. They are now installing 2 stations per week and tenders for installations on the remaining lines have been issued.
You only need to 'tap on' for a regular journey. People come from or continuing on GO Buses will already have made PRESTO payments and need not tap again. If you've set a default, you need to press an override button before you 'tap on' and then to 'tap off'.
I would suggest that they would be well served with 3-4 machines per station. One in the middle, one near the bottom of the accessiblity mini-platform, and one near the rear-end of the train (Car 9?) for stations with island platforms, or one facing every enterance and one facing every exit for stations with side platforms. I'd have to know more about how often there are errors and passenger arrival rates versus the cost of an extra to really say if they'd be worth it, but I've sent a 'customer feedback' message to PRESTO about it just now. The alternative would be to have PRESTO machines on the trains themselves. How much is the machine versus the installation?
you forgot the negative aspect of being able to go to a negative balance is the hassles to clear the negative balance by having to go to union station (having to talk to a real person so that you pay the 2.50$ negative balance (or whatver fee you were last charged) + a 25 cent underbalance fee). So wasting time (trip to union + waiting in line) + 25 cent charge + the confusion it causes new customers. Very inconvenient for people who 1. don't go to union often or 2. do not ride the go often (TTC)!!!
So between the choice of have $2.00 on your card and $2.00 in your pocket and not being able to take transit because you don't have $2.25 in either form and a negative balance and having to talk to a real person later, talking to a person at Union is more inconvenient? If you set up an 'Autoload contract' then you wouldn't have that inconvenience even, just like your TimCard Top-up. Autoloads and in person are immediate. Ad hoc loads by telephone and web take 24 hours.
I wouldn't have the stupidity about underpayment mode and having to see a real person to remove a negative balance, but the negative balance itself is more helpful than harmful, IMO.
For the record, you can clear the 'underpayment mode' at any 'PRESTO Customer Service Outlet'; whatever that is, which I take as any local transit agency participating in PRESTO except the TTC. Union Station is just the most often open for GO.
This product really must be considered a disastrous launch.......and it really needn't have been.....and I, for one, don't care who's fault it is/was.
Disastrous? Is that not an exageration? The system isn't even halfway installed yet. It has been half-assed, but I consider a disaster something that substatially decreases convience. There are bugs and stupidities and politicking, if we don't know the reason for their existance (more so than the fault), how will we ever get rid of them in the future? Ignoring the facts isn't going to change them. When people want the same thing, it's easier to remove the obstacles. When people want different things, it's easier to leave the natural obstacles there and let things fail/fall short on their own.
Whoever thought up this multiple-step activation scheme, has got to be a complete moron. No one who has ever used a system like this previously, could possibly screw it up this badly. Heads should be rolling at the Ministry of Transport.
Here's a couple of questions:
Where are there fare-checking machines other than at Union Station? Though I guess one can use any GO machine, tap on, press the correction button, and then tap off.
How do I check my default trip? They told me they set it to Zone 6 to Zone 2 at the service counter ... but I can't see how to verify; and I'm guessing if they got it wrong, and I get checked on a GO Train, then I am in trouble.
Agreed, they need to simplify the system. When you purchase the card, you should need fill out the registration information and the card is ready to go. I hope by next year they have a Draft 2.0 issuing system with all these things worked out.
PRESTO FAQ: "You can set up your default trip at any PRESTO customer service window at GO Transit stations." They don't say about checking/changing it online, which is old fashioned still.
) he said "all done" now all you have to do is go down to Union and check your balance and then you can use the card ....my reply of "but I already know my balance" was greeted with "but this will activate your card on the system"...."didn't you just activate my card"...."yes but you need to do this final step"...."oh, not quite a load from home and use convenience then?"..."not really...oh, and sir, please don't do that check your balance thing for at least 24 hours...it takes that long for the system to recognize what I have done today"...."mmmm, really convenient".