[Komiksulo]

...I think a lot of people would be turned off by the complexity...

I think this is key. It's still rather bumpy to use if something goes a little wrong and you're not using the train. Presto needs to do things like having Interac Online and Visa/MC on their website so that loading can be as quick as at a customer service centre. You should also be able to set your card up as a bill to pay via online banking, so that you can push money to it.

If they aren't going to have the card available and refillable at locations like convenience stores, they need to have other ways to pay, including via cash, such as fare-vending machines that can refill the card (retrofit on the Viva fare machines, maybe?) They need smartphone apps that enable payment and account tracking.

There should be many ways to pay.

 

[Komiksulo]

Another weirdness: I noticed that the Fall 2011 service update brochure for YRT says that I can't use the Presto card on GO Route 69, which is the Sutton GO bus. This route accepts YRT tickets for travel in York Region; if you pay cash, you pay the GO fare. I wonder whether this is why my trip, that I actually paid with Presto, hasn't shown up yet? Or maybe they mean that you can't use Presto to pay the YRT fare that is accepted on this route?

 

[bleeepbluuup]

Is anyone else underwhelmed by the figures in that report?
64,000 cards issued seems pretty small considering all the promotion they seem to have done over the last year. GO Transit alone has 200,000 + daily ridership, Mississauga 100,000+, plus all the other small systems. And I'm sure some of those 64,000 are sitting in a drawer somewhere.
I can't help but wonder if some of the difficulties people have had using them (like having to trek to Union to reset a negative balance) have impacted adoption rates...

Well, it's only recently that all the GO buses had Presto. Also, I don't think Presto concession fares are up and running everywhere. So there is still some reason for people to hold onto tickets.

 

[DavidH]

Anyone know what the implementation budget said about how much the cards would cost? If they budgeted on every card bringing in the $6 to offset the cost of the card and the setup, etc., the cost of the project must be going up with each "get yours now, free" period....no?

They've always planned on having discount programs as stations and buses went live with Presto. The current two month free period was a bit of a late decision, though, so you're right that they may be increasing the cost a bit.

Ultimately, GO is going to force the issue but they want to get as many people voluntarily signing up before they do that, if for no other reason than to avoid having a big deadline that has tens of thousands of people signing up all at once.

 

[TripleQ]

I think 64k is a fairly decent number, considering there was little financial incentive to upgrade. I'd wager most daily commuters use a monthly pass/10 rides, so no money saved. Some time savings of not having to line up each month, but that's probably negated by uncertainty on how the card works (when you look at the website, see things like 7.5% discounts for some trips, then 87.5% discounts on other trips, how many people are going to understand what the final cost is going to be?)

If they really wanted people to upgrade, something like a $20 credit for a new card (as long as they turn in a monthly pass or something to prevent fraud) instead of a $6 fee would go a long way to nudging people to take the plunge.

 

[TOareaFan]

I think 64k is a fairly decent number, considering there was little financial incentive to upgrade. I'd wager most daily commuters use a monthly pass/10 rides, so no money saved. Some time savings of not having to line up each month, but that's probably negated by uncertainty on how the card works (when you look at the website, see things like 7.5% discounts for some trips, then 87.5% discounts on other trips, how many people are going to understand what the final cost is going to be?)

If they really wanted people to upgrade, something like a $20 credit for a new card (as long as they turn in a monthly pass or something to prevent fraud) instead of a $6 fee would go a long way to nudging people to take the plunge.

3 guys here in the office use the GO from Oakville every single day.....not one of them has switched to a Presto card because they honestly believe their monthly commute will cost more than it does now by using a monthly pass. They also like the convenience of just putting it in their wallet and getting on and off the train every day (this, at the onset, was the negative that I saw with Presto....it takes a system like GO that has a large percentage of its users not having to do anything on a daily basis....so the flow of people on and off trains is pretty good considering the volumes and converts it back to having to tap on (and possibly off if no default trip is set) so making that marginally less smooth) but the fear of paying more is the real reason they are hanging on to their monthly passes!

 

[doady]

^ If someone is a student above 19 years of age using Mississauga Transit, they would be paying more since all post-secondary students qualify for the Mississauga Transit student fare, but not for the Presto student fare.

 

[Komiksulo]

^ If someone is a student above 19 years of age using Mississauga Transit, they would be paying more since all post-secondary students qualify for the Mississauga Transit student fare, but not for the Presto student fare.

I thought that Presto simply implemented the fare structures that the various agencies maintain. Unless Mississauga itself decided that post-secondary students using Presto didn't qualify for a discount, I don't see that Presto has any choice but to implement this Mississauga fare.

 

[doady]

I thought that Presto simply implemented the fare structures that the various agencies maintain. Unless Mississauga itself decided that post-secondary students using Presto didn't qualify for a discount, I don't see that Presto has any choice but to implement this Mississauga fare.

On the Presto website they state that only students aged 13-19 qualify for student discount:
https://www.prestocard.ca/en/StaticContent/Fares/

So I'll stick with MT student tickets for now.

 

[RedRocket191]

This is what happens when you let transit agencies set their own fare policies.

 

[EnviroTO]

This is what happens when you allow a central agency to go off on their own to create an inflexible payment card system.

 

[kEiThZ]

3 guys here in the office use the GO from Oakville every single day.....not one of them has switched to a Presto card because they honestly believe their monthly commute will cost more than it does now by using a monthly pass. They also like the convenience of just putting it in their wallet and getting on and off the train every day (this, at the onset, was the negative that I saw with Presto....it takes a system like GO that has a large percentage of its users not having to do anything on a daily basis....so the flow of people on and off trains is pretty good considering the volumes and converts it back to having to tap on (and possibly off if no default trip is set) so making that marginally less smooth) but the fear of paying more is the real reason they are hanging on to their monthly passes!

I don't know why they can't add a subscription function to Presto. Imagine just being able to "subscribe" to a Metropass or a GO pass. No tapping required. Imagine being able to subscribe to multiple monthly passes from different transit agencies.

None of this should be difficult.

 

[kEiThZ]

This is what happens when you allow a central agency to go off on their own to create an inflexible payment card system.

True. However, the mess we have right now is not any better.

Presto offers a remarkable amount of potential to create a very flexible, integrated and transparent payment system. It's unfortunate that the bureaucrats running it can't really see or realize the potential of the system.

 

[Komiksulo]

True. However, the mess we have right now is not any better.

Presto offers a remarkable amount of potential to create a very flexible, integrated and transparent payment system. It's unfortunate that the bureaucrats running it can't really see or realize the potential of the system.

Yeah... if they had no-tap passes, that would eliminate a lot of potential congestion. And probably increase the uptake rate as well. Of course, the rider would still be subject to random checks.

 

[DavidH]

I don't know why they can't add a subscription function to Presto. Imagine just being able to "subscribe" to a Metropass or a GO pass. No tapping required. Imagine being able to subscribe to multiple monthly passes from different transit agencies.

None of this should be difficult.

It's not a technology issue. GO decided that rather than offer a pass approach they would go with a loyalty program. Both approaches have their advantages. Perhaps they should simply offer both.