In retrospect, using Presto seems obviously better, but the context at the time was quite different. Presto was still *very* rough around the edges and the benefits of using it, especially outside of the GTA, were not as immediately obvious at that time. In general, if council is not going to use a competitive bidding process, there usually has to be pretty compelling reasons to do it, and with all the trade-offs that it would have entailed, it's not clear to me that selecting Presto outside of a RFP process would have been the right decision. Maybe they would have found it was the best within a competitive process, but thanks to Presto, that wasn't an option.
I would also be very leery of getting into a business relationship with a company that demonstrates an unwillingness to work with me as a client. Take it or leave it is okay if you're selling chocolate bars and cereal. It's a giant red flag for something like this.
Edit: I do wonder, though, if it would make sense for the region to reconsider the fare card issue.
I would also be very leery of getting into a business relationship with a company that demonstrates an unwillingness to work with me as a client. Take it or leave it is okay if you're selling chocolate bars and cereal. It's a giant red flag for something like this.
Edit: I do wonder, though, if it would make sense for the region to reconsider the fare card issue.