May 19, 2011 Report to Council
Presto GTA Farecard - System Wide Activation
RECOMMENDATION: 1. That the Presto GTA Farecard system wide activation as outlined
in the report dated May 19, 2011 from the Transportation and
Works department be approved.
BACKGROUND:
2. That the impacts of the full roll out of the Presto farecard be
included in the 2012 budget request.
3. That a by-law be enacted to authorize the Commissioner of
Transportation and Works and City Clerk to enter into a
Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the City with
Metrolinx, in a form satisfactory to Legal Services, to defer
payment of the City's Presto capital payments, for an amount up to
$850,000 until March 2012.
Participation in the GTA farecard program is a condition of Provincial
Gas Tax Funding. Mississauga Transit activated the Presto farecard
on three GO shuttle routes (Lis gar, Meadowvale, Cooksville) on
January 25, 2011 which allowed staff to assess the operational
readiness of the system to meet the needs of a large transit system.
Both equipment and system software problems were experienced,
however, due to the limited implementation, customer impacts were
minimized.
As a result of these problems, full system roll-out of Presto was
delayed and the operating funds to fully deploy Presto in 2011 were
not approved in the 2011 budget request.
Extraordinary efforts on the part of the Presto project staff and the
Mississauga Transit project team have resolved the major equipment
and system software issues. The operational readiness of the system
has reached sustainable levels of performance and the larger 905
transit systems have or will imminently become fully operational and
join Burlington and Oakville who are already operational.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is now expected to
participate fully in Presto. Although this will take a number of years,
our TTC gateway station at Islington has operational Presto devices
now allowing our customers to access the TTC system using a Presto
card.
All GO rail lines in Mississauga are Presto enabled. Hamilton went
live this month and Brampton will go live on May 30, 2011. York
Region is also expected to achieve full implementation next month.
Given the integration of our system with GO, Oakville, Brampton, and
TTC-Islington further delay for Mississauga Transit will have an
adverse impact on our customer base.
Mississauga Transit staff have completed their readiness assessment
and are prepared to activate Presto on all remaining routes by the end
of May targeting a May 30, 2011 date that aligns with Brampton
Transit.
We plan a soft launch allowing existing card holders to use our
system. Presto cards would be available for sale and reloading at our
City Centre Transit Terminal initially and at community centres later
this fall. Presto cards and reloading options have been available at all
Mississauga GO rail stations for some time and all the current Presto
card self serve intranet and telephone reloading options remain active.
There are no plans to promote the use of the card until later this
summer when all systems will participate in a Metrolinx lead and
funded marketing campaign.
There will be incremental operating costs associated with going live,
estimated to be $850,000. This covers data communication costs,
equipment maintenance and repair, bank fees, and staffing costs.
The participation of Mississauga in the Presto system, given our
central location and integration with neighbouring systems, is
important to Metrolinx and the Presto Project Office.
In order to assist with a 2011 system wide activation, Metrolinx and
the Presto Project Office have agreed to defer up to $850,000 in
capital payments currently owing at no cost until March 2012. A
Letter of Understanding between the City and Metrolinx in a manner
acceptable to the Legal Services is being prepared.
This deferral of costs would allow Mississauga Transit to make the
Presto system fully operational in 2011 and the impacts of full rollout
will be included as part of the 2012 budget request.
The report recommendation contributes to the following strategic
goals:
Develop a Transit-Oriented City
• Build a reliable and convenient system.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The operating impact for full system activation on May 30,2011 of
the Presto farecard is estimated to be $850,000 in 2011. These costs
will be funded from the Presto Capital Budget. Capital payments of
up to $850,000 that are owing to Metrolinx will be deferred until
March 2012. The impacts of the full rollout will be included in the
2012 budget request.
The Presto farecard is partially operational in Mississauga and the
equipment and system software have reached adequate levels of
performance. Failure to fully roll-out the system will have adverse
customer impacts given our central location and high degree of
integration with neighbouring systems.
Commissioner, Transportation
