Presto card

Presto card
PRESTO card. Note the Braille 'P'.
Location Greater Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa
Launched Fall 2009
Technology
Operator Accenture
Manager Metrolinx
Currency CAD ($10 minimum load, $1000 maximum load)
Stored-value e-Purse, period pass
Credit expiry None
Auto recharge Autoload
Validity
Retailed
  • Online
  • Participating transit agencies
Website prestocard.ca

The Presto card (stylized as PRESTO) is a contactless smart card fare payment system for public transit systems in Ontario, Canada. It is used in systems in Greater Toronto, the city of Hamilton, and Ottawa. Presto card readers were trialled from June 25, 2007 to September 30, 2008. Full implementation began in November 2009 and it will be rolled out across the province in stages. Presto is an operating division of Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency that manages and integrates road transport and public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

Nine local public transit systems, GO Transit, and the Union Pearson Express, accept the Presto card as fare payment. As of July 2016, it has been fully implemented in all systems except for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), which is expected to have complete implementation by the end of 2016.

History

One of the 10 strategies of The Big Move, the GTHA's regional transportation plan, was to create an integrated transit fare system amongst the 10 public transit agencies in the GTHA. The Presto system was designed to support the use of one common method of fare payment on various participating public transit systems, comparable with other systems such as London's Oyster card and Hong Kong's Octopus card.[1]

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), GO Transit, Ottawa’s OC Transpo, and eight municipal transit partners within the GTHA undertook the design and development of a seamless regional transit farecard system (Presto) based on contactless technology.

Thales Group and Accenture were awarded the contract to supply this system in October 2009. Implementation is the responsibility of Metrolinx, of which Presto became an operating division in 2011. The Presto project was strongly criticized by the Auditor General of Ontario in 2012 for "roll-out glitches, cost escalations and untendered contract extensions.".[2] The ongoing Presto rollout on the TTC's bus, subway and streetcar network have been marred with abmormally high failure rates of the readers themselves[3] and cost overruns.[4]

Use

Presto cards are available at transit stations, over the phone and online.[5] Beginning in Stage 3, cardholders will also be able to load passes (for up to three transit systems at a time) on to their Presto card. When boarding, riders tap the prepaid card, embedded with an RFID chip, on to a reader. The reader will then check for either a valid transit pass, or automatically deduct the lowest available fare from the card. Loyalty programs are also available on some transit systems, where frequent use of the system results in greater discounts on fare payment.

The Presto card works on several transit systems and has other features:

Participation

A Presto card reader at a YRT/Viva bus station.

The following transit service providers use Presto:

Rollout

In July 2007, 500 commuters who normally commuted from Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations in Mississauga to Union Station in downtown Toronto received a free card and tried the system under a trial termed "Launch 1".[6] Officials decided to test the fare system on Mississauga's neighbourhood shuttle service in Meadowvale and Cooksville that transports passengers to GO Transit. During the Launch 1 trial, the Presto card could be used at:

The Launch 1 trial concluded September 30, 2008.[7]

The Presto card has been introduced in stages beginning in fall 2009.

Stage One

The first stage of the production rollout schedule was launched on November 30, 2009 and included a limited number of recruited customers to test the system.[42] Stage One included Oakville, Bronte and Union GO Stations, TTC Union Subway Station, and ten Oakville Transit buses on three routes.

Stage Two

The second stage of the production rollout schedule was launched on May 10, 2010. In this stage, the Presto system became available to the general public and transit users were able to purchase Presto cards and use them at participating stations and transit systems. Stage Two was launched similarly to Stage One, but with full participation from Oakville Transit and Burlington Transit. GO Transit continued its system-wide rollout, with the Lakeshore East, Milton and Georgetown lines coming online at a rate of a few stations a week. The Toronto Transit Commission added six downtown stations (St. George, Queen’s Park, St. Patrick, Dundas, College, Bloor/Yonge) to the Presto system. Two more stations (Kipling and Islington) were added in summer 2010. The third stage of the production rollout schedule was scheduled for fall of 2010 to bring more transit systems and stations into the Presto system.

Stage Three

The third stage of the rollout schedule expanded the rollout to a larger scale, covering the entire 905 region and Hamilton. GO Transit completed its rollout for trains and buses in summer 2012. Since then, three additional GO Train stations have been added to the system, all of which are Presto-active: the Allandale Waterfront, Kitchener and Guelph Central GO Stations.

In the end of this stage, all but two local transit systems will have completed their rollout. Hamilton Street Railway was the first to roll out in this stage on May 3, 2011. Brampton Transit became fully Presto-enabled on May 30, 2011. On the same date, MiWay made the farecard available to adult passengers only.[31] Durham Region Transit launched Presto card for co-fares with GO Transit on June 27, 2011. Almost a month later, York Region Transit launched the Presto card in all of its Vivastations and buses. The TTC has added Presto card as fare payment option in Don Mills, Downsview, Finch, Yorkdale and York Mills subway stations. In this stage, concession fares were added for GO Transit, Oakville Transit, Burlington Transit, Brampton Transit, York Region Transit and MiWay; and co-fares for GO buses have been offered by MiWay and Brampton Transit exclusively for Presto cardholders. Also in this stage, only Durham Region Transit remains to roll out its regular fares.

Presto's self-service kiosks have debuted at Union Station for a pilot project. So far, reception of the kiosk has been favourable.[43]

Stage Four and Presto Next Generation

The fourth stage of the rollout added Ottawa's OC Transpo, commencing as a soft launch in spring 2012 and as a full rollout on May 18, 2013. It is the only agency to receive the Presto card so far outside the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. This stage involves the initial rollout of Presto Next Generation (PNG). OC Transpo's Presto readers are compatible with the Société de transport de l'Outaouais's new Multi farecards and Presto cards are compatible with pass readers on STO buses, thus facilitating transfers between the two.

Stage Four also marks the extensive rollout of the Presto fare system on the TTC, also using the Presto Next Generation system, while the participating transit systems that have already fully rolled out in the earlier stages were to receive Presto Next Generation cards in late fall 2012. Payment by other means, such as open payment and mobile payment systems, will also be made compatible with this updated version of Presto card.[44]

Stage Four and Presto Next Generation have been criticized for numerous delays with launching OC Transpo service. Metrolinx set July 1, 2012 as the Presto launch date for Ottawa, but in June 2012, it was postponed to February 1, 2013. City staff decided to launch Presto in several stages for 2013, the last of which occurred on May 18, 2013.[45]

The first major addition of Presto on the TTC took place in fall 2014, with the introduction of Presto card machines in several more Toronto subway stations, and the launch of new streetcars equipped with this system (see below).

TTC participation

In 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) committed to implement the Presto system at 14 of its major subway stations. In 2008, the TTC approved the use of a smartcard system[46] and is working with Presto in addressing the TTC’s business requirements for “full” system participation.[47] An initial funding allocation of $140 million has been earmarked by the provincial and federal governments and the City of Toronto; however, the TTC has estimated in its 2009-2013 budget that the project would take $365 million to complete.[48] At a provincial funding announcement in March 2011, it was announced that Presto would become the TTC's fare card of choice, though details of financing were still to be worked out.[49]

On November 28, 2012, TTC CEO Andy Byford and Chair Karen Stintz and Metrolinx signed the master agreement committing the TTC to the Presto fare payment system. The agreement falls under another master agreement that for the next ten years the new four LRT lines would be built by Metrolinx and operated by the TTC. The TTC was the last system to commit to Presto, and is the system with the most users. On November 30, 2014, the new low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars became the first surface vehicles on the TTC to be equipped with this system. The older Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) streetcars would follow one year later on December 14, 2015, when those cars were retrofitted with Presto machines as well, and it is expected that all remaining surface vehicles (including buses) and subway stations will be equipped with this system by the end of 2016.[50][51]

In April 2016, Main Street was the first station on the Toronto subway system to have the new paddle-door fare gates which replaced the turnstiles. All subway stations (at least one entrance per station) will be Presto-compatible by December 2016, and new paddle-door fare gates will be installed at all subway stations (including all remaining entrances and the initial 26 subway stations retrofitted with Presto machines on the older turnstiles) by mid 2017.

Since early 2016, The TTC has been rolling out Presto readers onto TTC buses from west to east. As of May 31, 2016, all Queensway division buses are equipped with Presto readers. This was followed by Wilson and Arrow Road division in August 2016 and Malvern and Mount Dennis division in October 2016. Birchmount and Eglinton division are the last 2 divisions to have the Presto readers rolled out which will be completed by December 2016.

On November 17, 2016, the Presto fare gates were installed at Eglinton station, meaning that all of the stations along Line 1 Yonge-University line accept Presto.[52]

Expansion

Fares

Participating transit systems have different fares and fare policies when using the Presto card compared to traditional fare media; generally, passengers receive a discount using Presto compared to cash fares. The implementation of the Presto card has also unified the fare categories of GO Transit and local transit agencies, with local transit agencies adopting the GO Transit standard: local transit agencies used to have different age limits for child and senior fares and different types of students that may use student fares (some excluding post-secondary students while others do not). Registered Presto card holders are assessed the senior or child fares as appropriate. Student fare classification must be activated by the card-issuing transit authority through its normal procedures, which differ between transit systems. For example, post-secondary student fares are classified as students in only GO Transit and MiWay, while the rest classify them under the adult category.

Base Fares
Agency Adult Senior Child Student GO co-fare? Period Pass? Loyalty Program? Notes
Brampton Transit $2.90 $1.55 $2.50 $2.50 $0.75 Yes No Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels.
Burlington Transit $2.70 $1.85 $1.85 $1.85 $0.70 No Yes1 Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Passengers taking more than a specified number of non co-fare trips in a calendar month (32 for seniors, 36 for adults, and 38 for students) may ride the system for free for the remainder of the month.
1 Except Child
Durham Region Transit $3.05 $2.00 $2.00 $2.70 $0.75 Yes No Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels.
GO Transit $5.30 $2.70 $2.70 $5.30 N/A No Yes Minimum fare required to begin travel. GO Transit fares depend on originating and destination fare zones and must be tapped on when starting travel and tapped off upon completion of travel on a GO bus. Fare adjustments will be reconciled upon tapping off.
Hamilton Street Railway $3.00 $1.80 $1.80 $1.80 $0.50 Yes Yes Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. All HSR passes, except day passes, HSR Golden Age Bus Pass, and Summer Youth Pass, may be stored as period passes on Presto. Passengers taking more than 11 non-co-fare trips in a calendar week (starting in Monday and ending the following Sunday) may ride the system for free for the remainder of the week.
MiWay (Mississauga) $2.90 $1.90 $1.65 $2.25 $0.80 No Yes Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Passengers taking more than 12 non-co-fare trips in a calendar week (starting in Monday and ending the following Sunday) may ride the system for free for the remainder of the week. Presto Card is not accepted for MiExpress 88 Wonderland.
Oakville Transit $2.80 $1.80 $2.20 $2.20 $0.75 No Yes Passengers taking more than a specified number of non-co-fare trips in a calendar month (28 for child/student, 29 for seniors, and 35 for adults) may ride the system for free for the remainder of the month.
OC Transpo $3.00 $2.19 $1.61 $3.00 N/A Yes No An additional $1.39 (adults and students) or $2.20 (seniors) is charged for Express trip, but children do not pay a premium.
Toronto Transit Commission $2.90 $1.95 free $1.95 No Planned Planned Fares are identical to ticket and token levels (see Toronto Transit Commission fares for details).
Union Pearson Express $9.00 $5.64 free $9.00 No Planned No Presto use offers discounts compared to cash fares.[58]
York Region Transit $3.40 $2.10 $2.10 $2.60 $0.75 Yes Planned Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Fares shown are for travel within one fare zone. Presto Card is not accepted for Route 50B Beaverton—Pefferlaw and TTC operated routes.
Presto reader at a GO station.

Other Presto card fare notes:

Presto card readers at Finch TTC subway station
Viva OneRide and Presto machines at a Vivastation

Inter-agency transfers

Local transit systems within the Presto card's service area have always honoured transfers from neighbouring transit systems, and transferring between neighbouring transit systems continues to be honoured with the Presto Card where they were honoured with traditional fare media.

Most transit agencies will not issue transfers on Presto card fares. However, paper transfers may still be issued in the following cases:

As the Presto card is meant to replace paper transfers, local transit operators have generally adopted the Presto card's transfer policies in their paper transfers (in the sense that, with the exception of the TTC, all local operators accept each other's transfers, and will not reissue transfers originally issued by other local operators), except for a generally longer transfer window provided by the Presto card.

Use with non-Presto agencies

Proof of Purchase

On Proof-of-payment (POP) services served by Presto cards, fare enforcement officers use hand-held Presto card readers which can verify if a passenger has paid the correct fare, a passenger must tap their card on the officer's handheld reader upon request.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Metrolinx - PRESTO Archived September 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Lorinc, John (15 January 2014). "Presto Technology sold to Washington DC raises questions". Spacing Magazine. Archived from the original|archive-url= requires |url= (help) on 18 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "12% of Presto card readers on buses don't work, Metrolinx audit says | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  4. ↑ "Presto card rollout on TTC running millions over budget | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  5. ↑ "Presto Card - Get It". Presto Card official site. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  6. ↑ "Launch 1". Queens Printer for Ontario. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  7. ↑ "Launch 1". Queens Printer for Ontario. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  8. ↑ Hamiton Public Works Department (26 October 2009). "PRESTO Implementation" (PDF). City of Hamilton website. City of Hamtilon. p. 4. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tap, "GO", PRESTO!". Transit Toronto. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010. Aldershot GO Station and the Hamilton GO Centre become PRESTO service agencies this Monday, June 7 ... Oakville GO Station became a PRESTO service agencies, on Monday, May 10. Bronte GO Station became an agency on Monday, May 17. Appleby GO Station became a PRESTO agency on Tuesday, May 25 and Burlington GO Station on Monday, May 31.
  10. ↑ "Clarkson GO Station now a PRESTO agency". Transit Toronto. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Port Credit GO Station now a PRESTO agency". Transit Toronto. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "Long Branch GO Station now a PRESTO agency". Transit Toronto. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  13. ↑ "Clarkson GO Station now a PRESTO agency". Transit Toronto. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  14. ↑ "Exhibition GO Station now a PRESTO agency". Transit Toronto. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  15. ↑ "PRESTO card". 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Use your PRESTO card at Milton GO Station starting tomorrow!
  16. ↑ "PRESTO card". Presto card official Twitter feed. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010. TTC Kipling and Islington stations will be up and running on Monday, July 26
  17. ↑ "PRESTO card". 9 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Use your PRESTO card at Lisgar GO Station starting today
  18. ↑ "PRESTO card". 12 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Use your PRESTO card at Meadowvale GO Station starting tomorrow
  19. ↑ "PRESTO card". 18 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Streetsville GO Station is going online tomorrow
  20. ↑ "PRESTO card". 21 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Starting Monday, use your PRESTO card at Dixie GO Station!
  21. ↑ "PRESTO card". 30 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Kipling GO station is PRESTO-equipped today!
  22. ↑ "PRESTO card". 23 September 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Cooksville GO Station went live today
  23. ↑ "PRESTO card". 24 September 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010. Erindale GO went live today
  24. ↑ "You can use PRESTO fare cards at Mount Pleasant GO Station, October 6". Transit Toronto. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  25. ↑ "You can use PRESTO fare cards at Etobicoke North GO Station, October 14". Transit Toronto. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  26. ↑ "You can use PRESTO fare cards at Malton GO Station, October 19". Transit Toronto. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  27. ↑ "You can use PRESTO fare cards at Bloor GO Station, November 11". Transit Toronto. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  28. ↑ "You can use PRESTO fare cards at Weston GO Station, November 17". Transit Toronto. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  29. ↑ "PRESTOSystem" (PDF). Metrolinx. Metrolinx. 2010-11-16. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  30. ↑ http://gotransit.com/public/en/fares/prestofaresMay1.aspx
  31. 1 2 "Mississauga.ca - MiWay - Presto". Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  32. ↑ "You can use PRESTO cards on HSR buses, starting May 4". Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  33. ↑ "MiWay - Presto". Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  34. ↑ "City of Brampton - PRESTO". Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  35. ↑ "YRT/Viva". Yrt.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  36. ↑ Mackenzie, Robert (2011-08-23). "You can now use PRESTO cards on GO buses - Transit Toronto - Weblog". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  37. ↑ "MiWay - PRESTO Concession". Mississauga.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  38. ↑
  39. ↑ http://www.ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/PRESTO/PRESTO_Subway.jsp
  40. ↑ http://ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Construction/PRESTO_construction.jsp
  41. ↑ http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Maps/Presto_Station_Map.pdf
  42. ↑ "About PRESTO". Queens Printer for Ontario. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  43. ↑ "Microsoft PowerPoint - Public Metrolinx Board_Feb Final [Compatibility Mode]" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  44. 1 2 3 "Microsoft PowerPoint - Public Metrolinx Board_September_V12.ppt [Compatibility Mode]" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  45. ↑ Willing, Jon. "Presto: More delays in OC Transpo smart cards | Ottawa & Region | News | Ottawa". Ottawasun.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  46. ↑ "Minutes - Toronto Transit Commission - Meeting No. 1883 Wednesday, June 13, 2007". TTC. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  47. ↑ "2009-2013 Capital Program and 10 Year Capital Forecast" (PDF). TTC. 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  48. ↑ "2009-2013 Capital Program and 10 Year Capital Forecast" (PDF). TTC. 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  49. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (31 March 2011). "It's official: Province and city to build Eglinton LRT". Toronto Star. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  50. ↑ "TTC stations, vehicles to use Presto card by 2016". CBC. Nov 28, 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  51. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (November 28, 2012). "TTC signs up for Presto fare card". Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  52. ↑ https://twitter.com/PRESTOcard/status/799287911317381120
  53. ↑ "2009-2013 Strategic Plan for Transit Services Draft" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  54. ↑
  55. ↑ nurun.com. "Presto! New card unveiled". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  56. ↑ http://floridaapts.lctr.org/RFPs/EFPS/Niagara%20Falls%20Transit.pdf
  57. 1 2 "Just tap to GO". Niagarathisweek.com. 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  58. ↑ "Union Pearson Express Information". Metrolinx. Retrieved 2016-04-05.

Further reading

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