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BMO said:
Maybe Both PRESTO and OPUS could be able to accept each other on their systems in the future.
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How would that work? Opus doesn't carry a $ balance like Presto. As far as I understand it you have to pre-purchased different tickets (passes, etc.) for each and every system you use. If I recall correctly, it can only handle 3 different systems.

I doubt there'd be any value for an Opus user to use Opus in Ontario, as they'd have to purchase tickets first.

gweed123 said:
It would be interesting to see if other municipalities not in Ontario adopted Presto. The one that makes the most sense of the top of my head is Gatineau (specifically STO ...
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STO already takes Presto doesn't it? https://www.prestocard.ca/en-US/Pages/ContentPages/FAQGeneral.aspx#General11
 
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gweed123 said:
It would be interesting to see if other municipalities not in Ontario adopted Presto...
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We should start with all Ontario municipalities that connect with GO, such as Peterborough, St Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Barrie. The next group might be municipalities that connect with OC Transpo. (Are there any besides Gatineau?) Then places between Ottawa and Toronto, like Kingston and Belleville.
 
Komiksulo said:
We should start with all Ontario municipalities that connect with GO, such as Peterborough, St Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Barrie. The next group might be municipalities that connect with OC Transpo. (Are there any besides Gatineau?) Then places between Ottawa and Toronto, like Kingston and Belleville.
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It would be great if VIA got PRESTO and Montreal's fare card capability. Only problem is that tickets can take most of your money off your PRESTO card all at once.

Still wish Kitchener - Waterloo had used PRESTO.
 
One thing that hasn't come up is how much of the farebox is going to this system.

Almost 6% of the fare revenue is going to go into Presto pocket up to 2015 when the current contract comes up for renewal. What will it be after then is unknown and who will have the contract for it then.

That a fair amount of revenue being lost for service and expansion and will come out of our pocket in higher fare or lack of service.
 
nfitz said:
STO already takes Presto doesn't it? https://www.prestocard.ca/en-US/Pages/ContentPages/FAQGeneral.aspx#General11
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It's a limited application. No one I know that takes STO to get to work uses a Presto card, they all either uses passes or tickets.

Komiksulo said:
We should start with all Ontario municipalities that connect with GO, such as Peterborough, St Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Barrie.
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Agreed. Get all of the local agencies in GO's service area on board first.

Komiksulo said:
The next group might be municipalities that connect with OC Transpo. (Are there any besides Gatineau?) Then places between Ottawa and Toronto, like Kingston and Belleville.
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Not that I know of. Clarence-Rockland has a small bus system that may have a couple connections to Trim or Place d'Orleans in the city's far east end. By and large, most of the commuting services between Ottawa and surrounding municipalities are done by private companies. Basically coach services. Ottawa is rather unique for large cities in the sense that it's boundaries extend far beyond it's urban area. The rural area of Ottawa is easily double or triple that of the urban area. OC Transpo still provides service to these areas in the form of rural express buses in the AM and PM peaks (I believe the fare is $5.40).

Kingston I think would be an especially good market for a smaller-scale Presto adoption, because it's very much a student town (most of whom come from either Ottawa or the GTHA). Most student Presto adopters in Kingston would also be Presto users in the hometown, or vice versa. And we know that students are one of the highest transit riding demographics, so that is a good market to target.
 
gweed123 said:
It's a limited application. No one I know that takes STO to get to work uses a Presto card, they all either uses passes or tickets.

Not that I know of. Clarence-Rockland has a small bus system that may have a couple connections to Trim or Place d'Orleans in the city's far east end. By and large, most of the commuting services between Ottawa and surrounding municipalities are done by private companies. Basically coach services. Ottawa is rather unique for large cities in the sense that it's boundaries extend far beyond it's urban area. The rural area of Ottawa is easily double or triple that of the urban area. OC Transpo still provides service to these areas in the form of rural express buses in the AM and PM peaks (I believe the fare is $5.40).
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Clarence-Rockland's two transit routes are commuter-only and go all the way to Downtown Ottawa and Gatineau (Place du Portage) via the Transitway. There would be limited need for transfers -Carleton University, Tunney's Pasture and a few other scattered employment areas. The CRT monthly pass allows free transfers to/from OC Transpo.
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
I raised this issue like two years ago. With most phones coming with some sort of NFC capability, how hard can it be to write an app for a smartphone which would allow as simple as, reading card balance/transaction history/reloading balance all the way to as complex as using the phone as the payment media.
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Someone's already done it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bitbucket.efung.prestoreader&hl=en

It just does card balance and transaction history.
 
Currently, at the Out Of The Cold program, they hand out tokens for the homeless. How will that be handled with or without PRESTO?
 
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bleeepbluuup said:
Someone's already done it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bitbucket.efung.prestoreader&hl=en

It just does card balance and transaction history.
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Thanks, this is a good start, albeit fairly easy for third party developers to do. The hard part of any official PRESTO app will be NFC payments and account top-ups, etc. As I mentioned in a previous comment. Check out Tim Horton's TimmyMe app on Android or BB10 for an idea of what, in my mind, would be a pretty ideal way of implementing those features.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Tickets will still exist, not everyone will own a presto card..
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TTC eliminated tickets for adults a few years ago. They only have them for concessions.

TTC has also hinted that they plan to eliminate tokens and metropasses.

I expect that the option for those that don't have tokens or passes will be cash.
 
nfitz said:
TTC eliminated tickets for adults a few years ago. They only have them for concessions.

TTC has also hinted that they plan to eliminate tokens and metropasses.

I expect that the option for those that don't have tokens or passes will be cash.
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If they still accept coins then there should be no reason why tokens could not be used in these circumstances at least, there would be plenty of them left.
 
Voltz said:
If they still accept coins then there should be no reason why tokens could not be used in these circumstances at least, there would be plenty of them left.
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Even if they still accepted them, how would people get more? Surely TTC would want to eliminate the entire distribution network. That's where the cost is.
 
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