Presto card

The Presto card, originally known as the GTA Farecard, is a smartcard-based fare payment system for Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The system was trialed starting on June 25, 2007 to September 30, 2008. Implementation is to be conducted in phases. The province has announced Accenture will be contracted to implement the card system.cite web
title = Accenture selected for GTA fare card project
publisher = Ontario Ministry of Transportation
date = 2006-10-12
url = http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2006/12/c7232.html
accessdate = 2006-10-13 ] Metrolinx will be responsible for administering the fare card.

2007 trial

In July 2007, 500 commuters who normally commute from Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations in Mississauga to Union Station in downtown Toronto received a free card and tried the system under Launch 1. [cite web
url= http://www.prestocard.ca/en/launch_one/default.aspx
title= Launch 1
accessdate=2008-05-16
publisher= Queens Printer for Ontario] The Launch 1 trial concluded September 30, 2008. [cite web
url= http://www.prestocard.ca/en/launch_one/default.aspx
title= Launch 1
accessdate=2008-08-26
publisher= Queens Printer for Ontario] Because Mississauga has a neighbourhood shuttle service in Meadowvale and Cooksville to ferry passengers to GO Transit, officials say it is the perfect environment to test the fare system. Most of the implementation will be completed by 2010, giving the Greater Toronto Area's local and regional transit operators a single fare-payment system to replace the current mixture of passes, tickets, tokens, and cash-based systems. The GTA operations area covers over 8,100 square kilometres, and is home to about 5.5 million transit riders.

During the Launch 1 trial, the Presto card could be used at:

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

Roll-out

Starting in fall 2009 the Presto card will be introduced in three stages: [cite web
url= http://www.prestocard.ca/en/when/default.aspx
title= When is PRESTO coming?
accessdate=2008-08-26
publisher= Queens Printer for Ontario]

tage One - fall 2009

* GO Transit Lakeshore West line
* Burlington Transit (whole system)
* Toronto Transit Commission Union subway station
* Oakville Transit (whole system) (winter 2010)

tage Two - mid-2010

* GO Transit buses
* GO Transit (Milton line and Georgetown lines)
* Mississauga Transit
* Brampton Transit
* Toronto Transit Commission Finch and Islington subway stations

tage Three - mid 2010

* Durham Region Transit
* York Region Transit
* Hamilton Street Railway
* GO Transit (remaining system)
* Toronto Transit Commission Finch, Islington, Don Mills and Downsview stations.

Toronto Transit Commission

While all other transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton will have the card fully implemented, the Toronto Transit Commission had expressed concerns over the cost to implement the card systemcite news
url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.html?id=ac8e95ae-7acb-489e-b025-6e73754bdea0
first=Peter
last=Kuitenbrouwer
publisher=National Post
title=City Hall unhappy with region's transit plan
date=2006-10-13
accessdate = 2006-10-13] . The TTC has only committed to implement the card at five of its major subway stations by 2010. As the majority of commuters in the GTA use the TTC, this plan would greatly limit the use of the fare card to the smaller suburban transit systems. The TTC has approved in principle the development of a smartcard system that is compatible with Presto. [cite web
url= http://www.ttc.ca/postings/gso-comrpt/documents/minute/f198/_conv.htm
title= Minutes - Toronto Transit Commission - Meeting No. 1883 Wednesday, June 13, 2007
work=TTC
date=2008-06-13
accessdate=2008-08-26] The project has received $140 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments, however the TTC has estimated in its 2009-2013 budget that the project would take $365 million to complete. [cite web
url=http://www.ttc.ca/postings/gso-comrpt/documents/report/f3672/2009_Capital_Budget__CR_Final_Aug_27.pdf
type=pdf
title=2009-2013 Capital Program and 10 Year Capital Forecast
work=TTC
date=2008-08-22
accessdate=2008-08-26]

How to use

The cards are available at transit depots, retail outlets, and online for $5. At the time of receiving the card, a pass or a money value of at least $20 must be loaded into the card. This system is more advanced than others because rather than just money values, passes (up to three per transit system at a time) can also be stored in the card. When boarding, riders tap the prepaid card, embedded with a computer chip, on a reader. The reader will check for either the pass's expiry date, or automatically deduct the fare from the card. The fact that the cards work on multiple transit systems is only one of their advantages. While the Presto card is automatically set for adult fares, the card can also be set for fares of a different category. A feature allows more value to be added before the card runs out. Lost cards of registered users remain active within 24 hours after reporting the loss. After that, the lost card is blocked and a replacement card holding the money value or pass(es) of the lost card is given to the user with a replacement fee of $5. If there isn't enough money on the card for the journey, a user may still ride on once, as long as the balance of the card isn't $0 or lower. However, the card will have a negative balance and a small fee will apply. The card will let you board for the lowest available fare and will have a loyalty program offering savings to frequent travellers.

References

See also

* Electronic money
* List of smart cards

External links

* [http://www.prestocard.ca/ Official Presto Card Website]