Presto card

Presto card

Location	Greater Toronto Area; Ottawa; Hamilton, Ontario
Launched	Fall 2009
Technology	MiFare DESFire
Operator	Accenture
Manager	Metrolinx
Currency	CAD ($1000 maximum load)
Stored-value	e-Purse
Credit expiry	None
Auto recharge	Autoload
Validity	Brampton Transit Burlington Transit Durham Region Transit GO Transit Hamilton Street Railway MiWay (Mississauga Transit) Oakville Transit OC Transpo (2012) Toronto Transit Commission York Region Transit
Retailed	Online
	Participating transit agencies
Website	http://prestocard.ca/

The Presto Card (stylized as the PRESTO Card and formerly known as the GTA Farecard) is a smartcard-based fare payment system for public transit systems in Southern Ontario, including those in the metropolitan region of the Greater Toronto Area and the cities of Ottawa and Hamilton. The system was trialled from June 25, 2007 to September 30, 2008. Full implementation began in November 2009 and will be rolled out across the province in stages. Presto is an operating division of Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency that manages and integrates road transport and public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Participating service providers 1.2 2007/08 trial 2 Rollout 2.1 Stage One 2.2 Stage Two 2.3 Stage Three 2.4 Stage Four 2.5 TTC participation 2.6 Expansion 3 How to use 4 Fares 4.1 Intercity transfers 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Background

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), together with GO Transit, Ottawa’s OC Transpo, and eight municipal transit partners within the GTHA undertook the design and development of a seamless regional transit farecard system (Presto) based on contactless (“Smartcard”) technology. Implementation is now the responsibility of Metrolinx, of which Presto became an operating division in 2011.

The Presto system is designed to support the use of one common farecard for fare payment on the various participating public transit systems. Presto will allow customers to ride on any participating transit system without pre-purchasing tickets or passes and without needing to know the fare policies of each system in advance. The Presto card, which is the size of a gift or debit card, will use “stored-value” in the form of a common electronic purse (e-Purse) as the medium for all fare payment transactions in addition to cash. Electronic readers will scan the customer’s Presto card (which contains a passive RFID chip within the card) as they board their public transit vehicle or enter a station calculating the correct fare and deducting it from their card balance - all within one-third of a second. Unlike paper tickets or passes, the card is made of durable plastic for extended use. The system will also allow customers the choice of loading their Presto card with cash value via preauthorized (autoload) payments, by telephone, Internet and at selected retails outlets. Customers with “registered” cards will be able to replace the value on a lost or stolen card, unlike tickets, tokens, passes or cash.

The Presto system will provide transit participants with centralized farecard procurement, initialization and distribution, reporting services, revenue clearing and settlement, customer call centre and Internet services, maintenance and support and Third Party Sales Agency Management.

The Presto system will provide the following customer and transit system benefits:

• A common means for all fare payments;
• Faster system boarding to improve transit efficiencies;
• Support seamless transit service in the GTHA and across Ontario;
• Provide a simple and convenient payment option that reduce monthly line-ups;
• Enhanced security for the protection of value on lost or stolen cards;
• Improved convenience translated to increased transit use addressing congestion and environmental concerns;
• Provide a standardized technology platform; and
• Potential extension of Presto concept to other services, such as parking, and municipal services, joint ventures.

Participating service providers

The following transit service providers use or are scheduled to use Presto:

• GO Transit
• Oakville Transit
• Burlington Transit
• Brampton Transit
• MiWay (Mississauga Transit)
• Hamilton Street Railway
• York Region Transit/Viva
• Durham Region Transit
• OC Transpo (2012)
• Toronto Transit Commission (12 subway stations; future system-wide implementation)

2007/08 trial

In July 2007, 500 commuters who normally commuted from Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations in Mississauga to Union Station in downtown Toronto received a free card and tried the system under a trial termed "Launch 1".^[1]Mississauga has a neighbourhood shuttle service in Meadowvale and Cooksville to transport passengers to GO Transit. Consequently, officials thought it would be the perfect environment to test the fare system. During the Launch 1 trial, the Presto card could be used at:

• Mississauga Transit (shuttle routes of 60 Meadowvale Shuttle-Crosscurrent, 62 Cooksville Shuttle-Webb, 63 Cooksville Shuttle-Kaneff, 64 Meadowvale Shuttle-Montevideo only)
• GO Transit (Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations only)
• Toronto Transit Commission (Union subway station only)

The Launch 1 trial concluded September 30, 2008. ^[2]

Rollout

Starting in fall 2009 the Presto card is being introduced in stages.

Stage One

The first stage of the production rollout schedule launched on November 30, 2009 and includes a limited number of recruited customers to test the system.^[33] Stage 1 includes Oakville, Bronte and Union GO Stations, TTC Union Station Subway, and ten Oakville Transit buses on three routes.

Stage Two

The second stage of the production rollout schedule launched on May 10, 2010. In this stage, the PRESTO System became available to the general public and transit users were able to purchase PRESTO cards and use them at participating stations and transit systems. Stage two launched similar to stage one, but with full participation from Oakville Transit and Burlington Transit. GO Transit continues its system-wide rollout, with the Lakeshore East, Milton and Georgetown lines coming online at a rate of a few stations a week. The Toronto Transit Commission also added 6 downtown stations (St. George, Queen’s Park, St. Patrick, Dundas, College, Bloor/Yonge) to the PRESTO System. 2 additional stations (Kipling and Islington) were added in summer 2010. The third stage of the production rollout schedule is scheduled for fall of 2010 and will bring more transit systems and stations into the PRESTO System.

Stage Three

The third stage of the rollout schedule expands the rollout to a larger scale, covering the entire 905 region and Hamilton. GO Transit is expected to complete its rollout for both trains and buses. The TTC completed its committed rollout by adding Don Mills, Downsview and Finch stations. Concession fares were also added for GO Transit, Oakville Transit, and Burlington Transit. Brampton Transit became fully Presto-enabled as of May 30, 2011. On the same date, MiWay also made the farecard available to adult passengers only.^[26] Durham Region Transit launched Presto card for co-fares with GO Transit as of June 27, 2011. York Region Transit launched presto with concession fares on July 17, 2011.Future GO Train stations (such as St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Guelph, Acton, and Kitchener) will also be Presto-enabled at the opening day.

Stage Four

The fourth stage of the rollout will involve only one transit system, Ottawa's OC Transpo. This stage involves the rollout of PRESTO card outside the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. OC Transpo is expected to be fully rolled-out by spring 2012.

TTC participation

The Toronto Transit Commission has at present only committed to implement the Presto system at twelve of its major subway stations. As a large number of commuters in the GTHA use the TTC, the full implementation of Presto within the TTC would greatly benefit the usability of the farecard. The TTC has approved the use of a smartcard system^[34] and is working with Presto in addressing the TTC’s business requirements for “full” system participation.^[35] An initial funding allocation of $140 million has been earmarked by the provincial and federal governments and the City of Toronto; however, the TTC has estimated in its 2009-2013 budget that the project would take $365 million to complete.^[36] At a provincial funding announcement in March 2011, it was also revealed that Presto was, indeed, to become the TTC's fare card of choice, though details of financing are still to be worked out. ^[37]

Expansion

The Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line will use the Presto card at all stations. The Air Rail Link between Union Station in downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson International Airport in the City of Mississauga is also expected to use the system.

How to use

The cards will be available at transit depots, over the phone and online for $6.^[38] At the time of receiving the card, a minimum money value of $10 must be loaded into the card. Beginning in Stage 3, cardholders will also be able to load passes (for up to three transit systems at a time) on to their Presto card. When boarding, riders tap the prepaid card, embedded with an RFID chip, on to a reader. The reader will then check for either a valid transit pass, or automatically deduct the lowest available fare from the card. Loyalty programs are also available on some transit systems, where frequent use of the system results in greater discounts on fare payment.

The fact that the Presto card works on multiple transit systems is only one of its advantages:

• Concession fares: While the Presto card is automatically set for adult fares, starting in Stage 3 registered cardholders will have the option to set their cards to automatically deduct either student, senior or child fares.
• Autoload: The Autoload feature allows cardholders to have a predetermined value automatically loaded onto their Presto card, when the e-Purse value reaches a specified threshold.
• Lost card replacement: If a registered cardholder loses their Presto card, they have the ability to have their lost card blocked within 24 hours of and the remaining balance transferred to a replacement card.
• Underpayment allowance: If a registered card has insufficient funds to pay a fare, but the balance is greater than $0 and has sufficient funds to cover the minimum base fare, the cardholder has the ability to go into underpayment and incur a negative balance for one trip for a small fee.

Fares

Participating transit systems have different fares and fare policies when using the Presto Card compared to traditional fare media; generally, passengers receive a discount using Presto compared to cash fares. The implementation of the Presto Card has also unified the fare categories of GO Transit and local transit agencies, with local transit agencies adopting the GO Transit standard: previously, local transit agencies differed on the age limits for child and senior fares as well the types of students that may use student fares (some excluding post-secondary students while others do not). Registered Presto Card holders will be assessed the senior or child fares as appropriate; unregistered cards will always have adult fares assessed. Student fare classification must be activated by the card-issuing transit authority through its normal procedures, which differ between transit systems.

Presto Card Cash Fares

	Adult	Senior	Child	Student	GO co-fare	Period Passes	Loyalty Program	Notes
GO Transit	-	-	-	-	N/A	No	Adult and Student only	GO Transit fares depend on originating and destination fare zones.
Brampton Transit	$2.65	$1.50	$2.45	$2.45	Yes	Yes	No	Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Presto Card is not accepted for BT 66 Wonderland Express.
Burlington Transit	$2.50	$1.70	$1.50	$1.70	Yes	No	Yes	Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels.
Durham Region Transit	-	-	-	-	Yes	Planned	No	DRT only accepts Presto for GO Transit co-fares, due to issues with GO Transit fare integration with DRT.
Hamilton Street Railway	$2	$2	$1.65	$1.65	See notes	Most	No	Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. All HSR passes, except day passes, HSR Golden Age Bus Pass, and Summer Youth Pass, may be stored as period passes on Presto.
MiWay	$2.50	$1.70	$1.65	$2.25	Yes	Yes	Summer 2012	Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Presto Card is not accepted for MiExpress 88 Wonderland.
Oakville Transit	-	-	-	-	Yes	No	Yes	Presto Card fares depend on how many previous trips have been taken on OT in the previous month. OT period passes are not offered for Presto due to this program.
Toronto Transit Commission	$2.50	-	-	-	No	No	No	Fares are comparable to token levels (see Toronto Transit Commission for details). Concession fares are not offered on the Presto Card; adult fare will be deducted.
York Region Transit	$2.60	$1.50	$1.90	$1.50	Yes	Planned	Planned	Fares are comparable to transit ticket levels. Fares shown are for travel within one fare zone.

Other Presto Card fare notes:

• GO Transit - Fares for adult and student passengers between two fare zones are reduced to levels comparable to that of 10-ride tickets. The loyalty discount system is in place where passengers frequently travelling between two fare zones will receive further discounts after 30 (student) or 35 trips (adult) in a single month, so the fare paid per month never exceeds that of the corresponding GO Transit monthly pass. Fares for child and senior passengers do not receive a further discount beyond the same 50% of adult (ticket) prices offered via traditional fare media. See GO Transit fares for more information.
  • Passengers connecting to local transit from GO Transit will only be assessed the co-fare, if applicable, on the Presto Card if the GO Transit trip was also assessed to the Presto Card; the full local fare will be assessed otherwise. Passengers connecting to GO transit from local transit will have their co-fare discounts assessed when disembarking from their GO Transit trips.
• Barrie Transit - As Barrie Transit does not implement the Presto Card, GO Transit co-fares are not offered for Presto Card users.
• Burlington Transit - BT implements a loyalty program where adult, senior, and student passengers making a number of full fare (not co-fare) rides in a calendar month may ride for the rest of the month for free; the amount paid will be equivalent to a BT monthly pass.
• Durham Region Transit - DRT support for regular (non-co-fare) DRT rides (on the provision that no transfers to GO Transit buses are used for the trip, due to GO Transit integration issues) is limited and on an unofficial basis.
• Guelph Transit - Guelph Transit does not accept the Presto Card, and will not have implemented the Presto Card by the time GO Transit co-fares are introduced to Guelph Transit. GO Transit co-fares are not offered for Presto Card users.
• Grand River Transit - As Grand River Transit does not currently implement the Presto Card, and will not have implemented the Presto Card by the time GO Transit co-fares are introduced to GRT, GO Transit co-fares are not offered for Presto Card users.
• Hamilton Street Railway - GO Transit co-fares are done differently for Presto Card holders compared to holders of traditional fare media. Passengers transferring to HSR from GO Transit will receive a $0.50 discount on the HSR fare, while passengers transferring to GO Transit from HSR will receive a $1.50 discount on the GO Transit fare.
• Milton Transit - As Milton Transit does not implement the Presto Card, GO Transit co-fares are not offered for Presto Card users.
• MiWay - Though MiWay supports period passes on the Presto Card, it is expected that period passes will be phased out in favour of a loyalty program by Summer 2012.
• Oakville Transit - Like GO Transit, fares for passengers are progressively reduced as more trips are taken over the course of a calendar month. After 10 rides and every 10 rides thereafter, the amount paid will be equivalent to using 10-ride tickets, and after 35 rides the amount paid will be equivalent to to using a monthly pass.
• Toronto Transit Commission - The TTC has only implemented the Presto Card at 12 subway stations, including all stations with connections to neighbouring transit systems, however at these stations, passengers may obtain a TTC transfer for connecting travel. Full TTC integration (including transitioning from the existing trip-based transfers to the time-based transfers used by other local transit agencies) is expected by 2015. The TTC has not implemented the Presto Card on its buses or streetcars, including buses operating on behalf of MiWay and York Region Transit; however, passengers may use the Presto Card to connect to a TTC bus route at stations with fare-paid transfer zones, as per TTC's transfer policy.
  • As TTC uses trip-based rather than time-based fares, there are no free transfers between the TTC and any connecting service; passengers connecting to a neighbouring service will be assessed a full fare, even within the nominal transfer window.
  • Though TTC fare media is valid for YRT's Viva Orange service for travel to York University, YRT fares will be assessed if passengers embark at York University, Murray Ross, Dufferin-Finch Vivastations, or outside Downsview Station's fare-paid area; passengers are assessed the TTC fare when boarding Viva Orange from Downsview Station's fare-paid area.
  • As TTC buses do not accept the Presto Card, passengers may not board at Downsview Station or Don Mills Station and pay for both the TTC and YRT fares (using the Presto reader at the Vivastation vending machine for the latter) and board a TTC bus bound for York Region. A separate (non-Presto) YRT fare is required when exiting the bus in York Region, as per existing TTC fare policies.
• York Region Transit - Zone fares may be deducted on request for passengers travelling across fare zone boundaries, or from the ticket vending machines at Vivastations. YRT Express fare supplements will also be automatically deducted.
  • Zone fares and YRT Express fares cannot be assessed on their own; passengers using the GTA Weekly Pass thus cannot use the Presto Card for these fare upgrades.
  • Passengers making a two-zone trip on a one-zone fare will be assessed a second full fare when making a connection past the fare zone boundary instead of a free transfer or a zone upgrade fare. Accidental crossings of the zone boundaries cannot be reconciled when disembarking: the full fare must be paid when boarding the first YRT bus.
  • Due to fare integration issues with GO Transit, GO Transit fares will be deducted when boarding Route 69 Sutton GO Bus. As this is the only route crossing the northern zone boundary, the Presto Card cannot be used for three-zone fares or two-zone fares crossing this boundary.
  • YRT fares are assessed when boarding Züm buses in York Region due to fare integration with Viva Orange, even though both YRT and Brampton Transit fare media are accepted for Züm buses in York Region. Passengers holding a Brampton Transit period pass will not be assessed a fare when boarding a Züm bus in York Region, but will be assessed a fare for boarding Viva Orange. As Viva Orange is on a proof-of-payment system while Züm buses are pay-as-you-board, it does not matter whether fares are deducted at the Vivastation vending machine or on board a Züm bus, except in the case of Brampton Transit period pass holders, as previously mentioned.
  • YRT does not issue paper transfers for Presto card holders. Thus, passengers must pay a second full fare when connecting to TTC services in York Region, due to the TTC not having implemented the Presto Card on its buses.

Intercity transfers

Local transit systems within the Presto Card's service area have always honoured transfers from neighbouring transit systems, and transferring between neighbouring transit systems continues to be honoured with the Presto Card where they were honoured with traditional fare media.

Most transit agencies will not issue transfers on Presto Card fares. However, paper transfers may still be issued in the following cases:

• Transferring from a MiWay bus to TTC route 58 Malton in Mississauga, which operates on behalf of MiWay while in Mississauga
• Transferring from GO Transit services to Durham Region Transit buses via co-fare, with intention on connecting to another DRT or GO bus.
• Depending on the transit operators involved, transferring from a local transit agency where the passenger has a local period pass to a neighbouring transit agency where the passenger does not (such as from Hamilton Street Railway to Burlington Transit while the Presto Card has a period pass for HSR); a full fare for the second transit agency will otherwise be assessed to the Presto Card.

As the Presto Card is meant to replace paper transfers, local transit operators have generally adopted the Presto card's transfer policies in their paper transfers (in the sense that, with the exception of the TTC, all local operators accept each others' transfers, and will not reissue transfers originally issued by other local operators), except that the transfer window is 2 hours instead of the 2 1/2 provided by the Presto Card.

It is not known how Presto Card transfers will be done between OC Transpo and Société de transport de l'Outaouais and the extent of integration between the Presto Card and the STO's existing Passe-Partout PLUS (including the STO-OC Transpo Rider card) smart card system. However, it is known that STO has upgraded their system so that the Presto Card will also be accepted on STO buses once OC Transpo has implemented the Presto Card, for the convenience of OC Transpo passengers.

See also

• Electronic money
• List of smart cards
  • Oyster card

References

External links

• Official Presto Card Website