2. Never been on Queen's Quay. They have PRESTO fare payment machines at the streetcar stops.
A handful of streetcar stops in Toronto do have machines at the stop, particularly on 509 and 510. But despite promises of lots of stops like this, they stopped installing them years ago, and there no machines on routes 501, 503, 504, 505, 506, or 512.
Either way, unlike Waterloo, each and every streetcar on 509 and 510 also has vending machines in the streetcar - so paying before entering is optional (other than at Spadina and Union stations, where there are fare lines.
What the issue with waterloo sounds like is less of a way of payment problem, and more of a frequency problem.
The other is, that with a credit card, you should be able to simply tap for payment, without having to spend 5 minutes using a flakey machine to type in your PIN code ... etc. With 5 minutes per transaction and only one machine at the stop - it's a good job ridership was low (person behind me didn't even try and pay). Yes, that machine was unusually slow compared to the other stops - but what was the point of Grand River opting out of Presto because they wanted more flexibility, and then not even enabling open payment!
The issues were:
- infrequent service at peak
- lack on ability to pay on streetcars
- not enough machines on platforms
- flakey machines on platforms
And then there was the rather bizarre behaviour of am operator, trying and close the doors with someone running, and only a few feet away - despite the very infrequent service! So, standing by the door, I did what one often does, and pressed the door open button. Only to get reamed out by the operator. This despite the vehicle ended up waiting at more than one station because it was ahead of schedule! All seemed a bit precious to me ...
I'm not sure how many of these issues have since been fixed - haven't ridden since late 2019, given Covid. Hopefully Eglinton avoids these problems.