PRESTO! PRESTO! The service may not be PRESTO but you can now use PRESTO to board select TTC vehicles at select locations. That’s right folks, the TTC is officially moving to the PRESTO payment transit fare payment system in what’s being called “the largest mass deployment of new fare technology in TTC history.”
The TTC expects the PRESTO payment system to be fully operational sometime in 2017, though customers will be able to use cash, tickets, Metropasses, and tokens halfway into next year. PRESTO payment devices have been installed on all 247 street cars. PRESTO pay stations also exist in 28 of 69 TTC subway stations, while roll-out onto buses is ongoing. As of now, 10 more buses at the Queensway garage in the West end are outfitted with a PRESTO payment system each night between 9pm and 3am. With a second garage starting up PRESTO installment operations in the near future, the rate of installation will double to 20 buses a night!
In the meantime, customers are heavily encouraged to continue to carry cash, tickets, Metropasses, and tokens as it is highly unlikely that the next bus after that really crowded one you waited over an hour for is going to have PRESTO payment capability.
Though the system is being rolled out in a so-called “piece-meal” approach, humour aside, this is the right direction. Transit systems in the Ottawa, GTA and nearby Hamilton areas are also in the process of switching to PRESTO. As Toronto follows suit, we will eventually reach a more integrated approach on transit fares, making life easier for transit-goers everywhere.
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