TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[nfitz]

But then again even though the revenue raised was around $7 million- I trust your numbers since they are usually pretty accurate- i'm sure there has been a increase in ridership from this segment of riders. No matter how negligible the increase is, this in turn increases the cost of operating. I'm sure the increase in operating costs from higher ridership negates some of the ticket distribution costs as you outlined.

I've seen no increase in kids on transit heading to school. Most are travelling with an adult, who still has to pay. Normally they only go a few stops, normally not at the peak point in the line. What I see lots of is high school students, who still pay $2.

I think this entire child thing is completely overblown.

is there actually an age limit or is it just based on what other transit agencies have as their minimum age to pay a fare?

I tried once to get a Presto card for a child aged 5 years and 363 days. They literally could process it - the system was designed to block any ages less than 6 years.. I had to come back 2 days later. I have no idea why they'd even think this an issue - what's the worst-case scenario - that a child who could ride free, pays?

What's fun though in Toronto now, with a child's Presto card, you can tap into the subway station, and it literally charges $0.00:

 

[TheTigerMaster]

It's unlikely to be implemented, but the TTC is considering removing students and senior fares.

 

[DSC]

If a small city like Belfast can raise 1 million pounds in 3 months (ca $2 million) think what we could raise in Toronto AND get transit moving! The posted King Street's "transit only" lane is NEVER enforced as far as I can see.

"Motorists have been hit with fines totalling at least £1m in just three months after they were caught driving in Belfast's bus lanes, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

The number of penalties issued since a controversial crackdown began in June has already passed 20,000.One camera near the City Hall has snapped more than 8,500 drivers.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Actual enforcement seems to be a rare occurrence. They should have front facing cameras on streetcars (and buses) to record everything. At the end of day, the recordings should then be downloaded and examined. Using software and people go through the recordings, noting the infractions and GPS evidence, and tickets issued through the mail. But they won't in Toronto because of the automobile lobby and pro-automobile politicians.

 

[Megaton327]

It's unlikely to be implemented, but the TTC is considering removing students and senior fares.

It should be noted that specifically refers to the $2.00 cash fare--student/senior tickets (short term) and presto fare (long term), as well as metropasses or whatever long term solution they go for with presto, are expected to remain for the foreseeable future. I think it's a good idea--right now S tickets/presto are, I think, $1.95 each whereas cash is $2.00...especially once presto comes in the idea they're going for is now that kids are free, if you remove the $2.00 S cash fare, there is a single cash fare of $3.00 (well, $3.25 or $3.50 by then) that every cash rider will pay, which makes things simpler.

 

[Megaton327]

The Metrolinx/Presto-made Single Ride Vending Machine at the eastbound 509/510 stop at Queen's Quay and Lower Spadina is now equipped with tap-to-pay debit/credit functionality for single, and presumably multiple, cash fare purchases. To the best of my knowledge this marks the first instance that a single cash fare of $3.00 has been purchasable by debit/credit anywhere on the TTC. I only saw it at a distance from my streetcar as it went by but it appears similar to the reader on the Presto SSKs (probably the same reader with a bit of weather/tamper proofing); the machine's main screen no longer had the "no" symbol through the greyed out debit/credit option, that option was now green and looked selectable--seems to be live.

I glanced at the machines at the eastbound Rees, Harbourfront Centre, and Queen's Quay stops, and they did not have the tap reader equipped nor the screen option live. Have not been on an LFLRV in the past few days so I can't speak to those, nor the SRVMs at Exhibition or along Spadina. So the only one I can confirm is the Queen's Quay and Spadina one, but there may well be others. This is a good sign, though--very exciting.

If nobody beats me to it I will try to take some pictures of the reader, and the menu options for debit/credit, tomorrow.

 

[nfitz]

It's a step forward, however for a while 2-3 years ago you could use debit/credit to tap in at College and Dundas station when they were testing new units there.

So is this just testing, or will we see this both at stops and in new streetcars.

 

[rbt]

To the best of my knowledge this marks the first instance that a single cash fare of $3.00 has been purchasable by debit/credit anywhere on the TTC.

TTC has had a ticket machine at Pearson Airport which takes credit cards since 2010, maybe 2009.

 

[Napoleon]

It's a step forward, however for a while 2-3 years ago you could use debit/credit to tap in at College and Dundas station when they were testing new units there.

Chicago has that capability implemented for its tap-in/tap-out system. You can also load a pass to your tappable debit/credit card. Very convenient for visitors I must say!

 

[Megaton327]

It's a step forward, however for a while 2-3 years ago you could use debit/credit to tap in at College and Dundas station when they were testing new units there.

So is this just testing, or will we see this both at stops and in new streetcars.

Oh, that's right. I totally forgot about those even though I used one once. That was a great solution IMO, integrated right into the Presto reader...don't know why they moved away from that. They seemed to work absolutely fine despite being a "test"...didn't even leave them at College/Dundas, got rid of them never to be seen again.

This is something they've stated will be coming both to stops and the new streetcars--note that all of the machines have the placeholder menu entry for debit/credit. What I've heard on here is that the delay was because the reader is the same one as the Presto Self-Serve Reload Kiosks and Metrolinx wanted to prioritize those, so these got pushed way back. That would make sense given the recent rush of SSK installations at various stations seeming to be nearing completion for the time being, before a future phase of installs might happen after Presto goes system-wide.

 

[picard102]

So half the Spadina line will be closed on Halloween for scheduled maintenance.
Surely no one will be going out that night.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

So half the Spadina line will be closed on Halloween for scheduled maintenance.
Surely no one will be going out that night.

I surely won't be going out when there are those terrifying little creatures roaming the streets.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Everyone, meet the newest TTC operator:

Album: http://imgur.com/a/8yOMU

(my heart just melted)

 

[Megaton327]

Okay, tried out the machine today. Interestingly it gave me errors/said both my Debit and Credit cards were declined/unable to process the transactions, one is a CIBC Interac Debit Card, the other is a CIBC Visa Credit Card, I used the tap functions of both of them before and after this in the day with no issues so it seems to be the machine. I guess it actually isn't live yet? Maybe no network connection? Odd that the menu option would be selectable if it isn't actually set up properly. Hopefully it'll be fixed soon.

A few other notes--this machine had a software update that has removed the $0.00/greyed out 'Child' fare category for both the cash and debit/credit screens; I checked another SRVM without the reader installed and the child category was still there, so it looks like they're updating the software when they install the reader since they have to enable the credit/debit button anyways. Glad they did that, it was ugly having that needless option still in the menu. Also, note that this supports contactless cards only, unlike the Presto Self-Serve Kiosks there is NO slot to insert a chip card, even though the keypad is present. The keypad appears to do absolutely nothing on these machines, as a result.

Main menu with credit/debit enabled; shows American Express ExpressPay, Visa PayWave, MasterCard PayPass, and Interac Flash:

This is shown after tapping credit/debit, and is identical to the cash menu; note the disappearance of the previously-greyed-out $0.00 child option:

This is shown after selecting 1 adult and pressing 'pay', a screen is first shown with a 'yes' or 'no' option for having a receipt printed. Note that it says contactless card required as there is no chip slot unlike the Presto SSK. Also note that for some reason the touchscreen's 'cancel' button is not present when paying by card and it says to press any button on the PIN keypad to cancel the transaction--I tried that and it does not work, so there is currently no way to cancel a credit/debit transaction, the machine does not appear to auto-cancel for quite a while, hopefully it does so eventually.

Tap reader illuminates once the above screen comes up (i.e. once 'pay' has been pressed):

And much ado about nothing--transactions failed! I do like that the receipt shows how many of each fare category, subtotals, and a total, though. Luckily if the transaction fails it prints a receipt even if you selected not to receive one--also liking the bold 'not a transfer' text at the top.

Oh well...hopefully it'll actually go live in the next few days. This is quite an embarrassment, though, while I and other UTers for instance might be aware this is the first install/likely still being tested, this would likely be quite frustrating to a visitor to the city. Hope they fix it very soon.

Edit: forgot to mention, I rode 4403, 4407, and 4408 today, and neither of the two SRVMs on any of those three LFLRVs were equipped with the tap reader or the software update. As mentioned in an earlier post, on Queen's Quay from Spadina to Union, this reader (Queen's Quay at Spadina Eastbound) is the only one with it installed.

Edit 2: I also just realized that, for the student category, it says 'TTC Student ID Required', however the TTC hasn't required student ID for a while now. Anyone 13-19 years of age inclusive is eligible for the student rate; those 13-15 require no ID, those 16-19 require any government or school issued photo ID with their age (Driver's License, Ontario Photo Card, School Student ID).

 

[nfitz]

Not active I'd assume yet.

The Presto website is down this overnight tonight. This often means they are software updating the entire system, and might be a precursor to the debit/credit cards becoming active. Or perhaps the readers on old streetcars becoming active.