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Toronto transit projects
(10-21-2018, 02:24 PM)Canard Wrote: My biggest issue with it is that it doesn’t do day passes (or have a daily cap). If we go to Toronto it is usually on a Sunday, where we can purchase a day pass for two people for about $10. With Presto there is no way to handle this so we would be severely overcharged. It’s ludicrous.

This is a good point, and it's something that can easily be addressed in software, but isn't.

Ironically, while Presto may not have targeted tourists, unlike the GRT EasyGO Farecard *cough*, it is a card which can be used by tourists, at least those originating from a different city in Ontario. When I travel to Ottawa, I use my presto card there, even though I'm a tourist--and it's great!...except for the lack of a day pass.
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Right - so you end up paying more... for what? The ability to tap?

Even if they implement a day pass on Presto here, we'd still end up paying twice as much - because the day pass can't be for two people on one card. There's no scenario where it can work (unless they halve the price of a day pass on Sunday's or something like that).

All that being said the last time we went to Toronto we actually did bite the bullet and get Presto cards.
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The GRT day pass (whether paper or card) costs $8 and allows use by either a single person, any day of the week, or a family, on a weekend only.
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(10-21-2018, 09:06 PM)Canard Wrote: Right - so you end up paying more... for what?  The ability to tap?

Even if they implement a day pass on Presto here, we'd still end up paying twice as much - because the day pass can't be for two people on one card.  There's no scenario where it can work (unless they halve the price of a day pass on Sunday's or something like that).

All that being said the last time we went to Toronto we actually did bite the bullet and get Presto cards.

There's no reason that the presto system couldn't implement a day pass with the same fare structure we have here now (for two people and all), it's just a question of software, the hardware is fully capable.

In the case of my travel to Ottawa, I paid less, because Presto is less than cash, and I didn't travel on the bus enough to warrant a day pass.  If I did, I would have bought a day pass, but I too would grumble about it.
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(10-21-2018, 09:48 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(10-21-2018, 09:06 PM)Canard Wrote: Right - so you end up paying more... for what?  The ability to tap?

Even if they implement a day pass on Presto here, we'd still end up paying twice as much - because the day pass can't be for two people on one card.  There's no scenario where it can work (unless they halve the price of a day pass on Sunday's or something like that).

All that being said the last time we went to Toronto we actually did bite the bullet and get Presto cards.

There's no reason that the presto system couldn't implement a day pass with the same fare structure we have here now (for two people and all), it's just a question of software, the hardware is fully capable.

In the case of my travel to Ottawa, I paid less, because Presto is less than cash, and I didn't travel on the bus enough to warrant a day pass.  If I did, I would have bought a day pass, but I too would grumble about it.
Well Presto can't do it''s core functionality so that would be one reason that it can't implement it. Not to say that it never could, maybe 10 years from now, who knows it might have functionality that is on par with  what people have had 10 years ago with paper tickets
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The only way it could work is it would allow two people to go through per tap. Do you think they'd honestly permit that?

It's actually more than that - because a day pass on Sunday is good for 2 adults and 4 kids.

There's no way to reasonably automate that at a faregate.
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(10-22-2018, 12:15 PM)Canard Wrote: The only way it could work is it would allow two people to go through per tap.  Do you think they'd honestly permit that?

It's actually more than that - because a day pass on Sunday is good for 2 adults and 4 kids.

There's no way to reasonably automate that at a faregate.

I believe all TTC stations still have manned booths, who could easily scan a presto card and let multiple people through.  Last time I was there you already used that for the paper day passes, fundamentally a day pass requires multiple people through a fare gate per ticket. Is that not how it is done now?

And if you really wanted to automate it, one could require buying the day pass at a ticket machine but still load it onto the presto, but allow multiple cards to be added--the only disadvantage I see there is requiring a presto for each rider.

The only one I cannot see automating with multiple users is a daily fare cap.
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Last time I was in Toronto Sheppard West no longer was manned at the window at for us to buy a day pass. But the information person let us on to buy our day pass at Lawrence West. Perhaps the info people will let families through the turnstiles on the weekends if someone taps presto. But this could become open to abuse.
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They are deliberately phasing out the staffed ticket booths; none of the new stations on the York extension have them.
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The EasyGO cards are intended such that you can go to a driver and say "for me any my friend" and they press a button or two, and every additional time I scan, it would let the next driver know it was 2 people to let through. I don't see why this shouldn't be an option for any fare gate operator in Toronto, or as a button option for button-ed presto kiosks (as opposed to tap-only ones)
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Toronto has the issue of fare gates that only allow one person at a time. These are often automated and unattended, so there's no way to work in a different solution.
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(10-23-2018, 12:30 PM)KevinL Wrote: Toronto has the issue of fare gates that only allow one person at a time. These are often automated and unattended, so there's no way to work in a different solution.

Well, that's not true.  The gates could easily be configured to permit two or more passengers to pass upon presentation of a specific fare product.  But certainly it is more complex than simply requiring each passenger to carry their own presto card, and allow the purchase of a single day pass to be loaded on multiple cards by the Ticket Vending Machine.
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I had no idea such a thing could be configured - I guess that's just from never having seen it in action.

Interesting.
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Also not true about the new stations, all of the ones I can think of off the top of my head have manned booths.
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(10-23-2018, 07:37 PM)Canard Wrote: Also not true about the new stations, all of the ones I can think of off the top of my head have manned booths.

Not my understanding, and Wikipedia agrees

Quote:Since the extension's opening, the six new stations...do not have staffed fare collector booths. Instead, they have roaming Customer Service Agents... While TTC passengers can pay their fares at these stations with traditional fare media...they cannot purchase these types of fares there. Exact change is required when paying cash.
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