[vic]

Did you tap through a wallet? If you did and you have another RFID card it will accept your Presto, but will come up with a card read error. Tapping again will come up with the 'already tapped' message.

I think this might actually be the problem. I just got a new CC with "paywave" and started to wonder if that interfered. I took my Presto out of the wallet for the last few taps and it worked fine. I'll probably try again inside the wallet soon to see if it happens again.

Curiously, this only happened on Mississauga buses, but not at the TTC Kipling reader.

Having to take the Presto out of my wallet is a huuuuge inconvenience. #firstworldproblem

 

[Komiksulo]

I think this might actually be the problem. I just got a new CC with "paywave" and started to wonder if that interfered. I took my Presto out of the wallet for the last few taps and it worked fine. I'll probably try again inside the wallet soon to see if it happens again.

That's a good thing to know about.

I don't have any other cards with RFID, but RBC sent a message around saying that their new debit cards are going to have "Interac Flash". Interac's version of RFID. I think that they'd replace the debit card I already have (which is only about a month old), but I'm not certain.

 

[nfitz]

Using the GO Train yesterday (Saturday) I noticed an odd behaviour. It worked as normal, but just after both tap-outs, I heard a distinctive beep. Both times I looked back, but it was too late to see what the display had said. The first time I just figured that it was someone right behind me, or at an adjacent machine. But the second time I was clearly the only one around.

Today looking at my account, I can see the details for the first trip there, just fine. But both the tap-in and tap-out for the second trip are missing; normally when things are missing, all transactions for a particular station that day are late ... but in this case, my earlier tap-on/tap-off for the same stations are present. Also my balance is $4.20 lower than is possible, looking at the previous trips.

The card status still says active (does this change to something if it is suspended). And there's no point contacting them until the remaining transactions show up ... perhaps it will automatically figure it out). But I think something has changed. Has anyone else seen anything similar? First time I'd used my card in 4 days.

I went as far as going through my wallet, to see if my wife's Presto card had ended up in there somehow. No ... but I did realise that I had a brand new October TTC pass; not sure if there is something in that card that's being detected when I touch my wallet (there's no other RFID devices in there, other than Presto).

 

[kEiThZ]

Having to take the Presto out of my wallet is a huuuuge inconvenience. #firstworldproblem

Mobile electronic wallets would solve this problem.

 

[nfitz]

Using the GO Train yesterday (Saturday) I noticed an odd behaviour. It worked as normal, but just after both tap-outs, I heard a distinctive beep. Both times I looked back, but it was too late to see what the display had said. The first time I just figured that it was someone right behind me, or at an adjacent machine. But the second time I was clearly the only one around.

Today looking at my account, I can see the details for the first trip there, just fine. But both the tap-in and tap-out for the second trip are missing; normally when things are missing, all transactions for a particular station that day are late ... but in this case, my earlier tap-on/tap-off for the same stations are present. Also my balance is $4.20 lower than is possible, looking at the previous trips.

The card status still says active (does this change to something if it is suspended). And there's no point contacting them until the remaining transactions show up ... perhaps it will automatically figure it out). But I think something has changed. Has anyone else seen anything similar? First time I'd used my card in 4 days.

I went as far as going through my wallet, to see if my wife's Presto card had ended up in there somehow. No ... but I did realise that I had a brand new October TTC pass; not sure if there is something in that card that's being detected when I touch my wallet (there's no other RFID devices in there, other than Presto).

@*#$ Metrolinx ...

Phoned in on October 3rd. They said they'd get back to me. Tried to used it again today. Surprise, surprise, not working. Phone again ... no record of previous phone call (despite the person insisting it was recorded, and if I had to use it and it wasn't working, there shouldn't be any big issue because they had record of conversation). Still no indication why extra $4.20 was charged. And most surprisingly ... no indication that there was a problem on the account.

Prestocard has to be the most screwed up implementation of a fare card ever. Accenture must be totally and completely incompetent for there still to be issues like this.

They did suggest that I talk to the people at the station, however neither my starting station or ending station was staffed (well, there was a very nice cleaner at the ending station ... but he didn't know what the card was for ...).

The service person on the phone suggested that it might be useful to carry 2 Prestocards for cases like this ... as it happens I was carrying my wife's card, as I was paranoid that there would be a problem ... but should everyone be paying for a second card?

 

[vic]

The service person on the phone suggested that it might be useful to carry 2 Prestocards for cases like this ...

Wow! That's seriously brutal. I wonder if Presto / Metrolinx people read this. And I wonder how often they make suggestions like that.

 

[SGHA504]

Presto / Metrolinx people definitely read this. Its an extra window into card usage from a consumer perspective, I'm certain it helps determine which of these annoying issues with the card need need to be resolved sooner than later!

 

[nfitz]

Stopped by Union Station today. The Metrolinx Go Transit staff there were quite helpful. Seems when I tapped off, it simultaneously tapped on again. No they said, that shouldn't be possible, but they've been seeing a bit of it lately, and it's a glitch. Card was in underpayment mode, so they simply fixed, and gave me a credit.

Great ... buy why couldn't the Metrolinx Presto idiots on the phone tell me there was a problem with the card. For a week, they said they couldn't see why it wouldn't work now. And why don't they know about this double tap thing, which everyone at Union seemed to know about.

And why the heck would they be locking you out of the system because of something like this? Just charge a big $$ to the card, and keep going.

My only working theory is that Accenture is technically incompetent.

 

[Dan416]

Carry two cards? Seriously? That's ridiculous.

 

[EnviroTO]

I can't wait until the TTC implements this. Instead of the strange beeps people hear when rushing to catch the GO there will be injuries when the turnstile doesn't rotate, and people who already had Interac Flash, PayPass, PayWave, or ExpressPay in their wallets will also need to carry multiple Presto cards in case the cards go into bonkers status. For the benefit of carrying Presto they will pay $7 to own a card and not be able to load it with half the pass types that exist. Awesome!

 

[Justin10000]

Yeah, Presto sucks. Not going to waste $6 on this card.

 

[rbt]

I can't wait until the TTC implements this. Instead of the strange beeps people hear when rushing to catch the GO there will be injuries when the turnstile doesn't rotate, and people who already had Interac Flash, PayPass, PayWave, or ExpressPay in their wallets will also need to carry multiple Presto cards in card the cards go into bonkers status.

By the time Presto hits the TTC, people under 35 may not be carrying around any cards except for two Presto and ID and might be a little annoyed about being forced to use the clunky old legacy system (Presto).

In fact, we will know in a couple of weeks. I'm crossing my fingers Google Wallet will be pushed out with the next Android update to my phone in ~November. Might be leaving parts of my wallet at home pretty soon (eyes the Citibank Mastercard used for US Funds purchases).

 

[ShonTron]

I've found Presto quite useful, but that's mostly because my trips on GTA transit agencies is larely random. Having the card ensures that I get the 10-ride discount on any GO service I take without having to wait in line or be tied to a specific corridor. For a transport geek like myself, it has been very useful. It has also been great for taking my bike to places like Oakville-Burlington, Hamilton and Niagara for day trips.

I also note that Brampton, Mississauga, York Region and Burlington and the TTC discount the ticket/token fare and not the cash fare. Oakville only discounts after so many rides a month.

However, I am not a typical potential Presto user as my rides are somewhat random and not where buying a pass, bus tickets or GO 10-ride ticket makes sense. The only benefits it gives daily point-to-point GO commuters so far is not having to wait in lines each month or each time the 10 rides are expired, and the balance protection.

 

[DavidH]

The only benefits it gives daily point-to-point GO commuters so far is not having to wait in lines each month or each time the 10 rides are expired, and the balance protection.

It also means that you get the "best possible" price for any given month without having to accurately determine *in advance* how many rides you will consume during that month. With paper passes, you're better off buying a monthly pass after a certain number of trips for month, but since you have to commit in advance, an unexpected illness or other reason to not travel will mean that you've wasted money.

Also, point to point commuters get discounted fares on their one line. If they then need to make an occasional one-off trip, they don't get a discount. For example, I use the 96 bus to get to and from work, but if I need to divert to downtown one day and take the train home, I'm paying full fare for that train trip. With Presto, discounting crosses over multiple routes.

And finally - daily point to point commuters won't have a choice at some point soon.

 

[Electrify]

Another benefit is that you get tax discounts after 32 rides on a single system. Something tickets and tokens don't offer you.