[URBAN NOTE] "Presto lets riders transfer to a new set of headaches"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Edward Keenan gives me reason to fear for the coming year in Toronto transit, once the switchover to Presto occurs.

As I follow the ups and downs (and further downs) of the Presto card rollout on the TTC, I sometimes take a step back and ask myself: what problems is this supposed to solve?

I mean specifically for riders. What problem do riders have with the current fare system to which Presto is thought to be the answer? I can’t, for the life of me, think of a good answer.

The legacy fare system, the one being phased out by Presto implementation, offered three payment options. First, if you were a frequent rider, you could buy a monthly or weekly pass, and then everything was problem-free. You keep the pass with you, show it when passing through a fare gate or when asked, and you’re golden.

Second, if you were a less frequent but still regular rider, you buy tokens. One problem with these might be that they’re small and easy to lose track of. Another might be that you need to get to a store or station where they sell them if you run out.

Third, if you had no tokens or pass, or didn’t want one, you used cash — depositing exact change in the fare box. That isn’t changing. The TTC will still accept cash single fares and use paper transfers (or, at stations, paper single-use Presto cards), so Presto is pretty much irrelevant to current cash users. Except for children, who under the old system simply rode free: the ultimate hassle-free fare system. Under Presto, kids will need to buy a $6 Presto card to tap on and off at stations that have fare gates.

Now, under the legacy system, passengers might lose their pass or token. They also might lose their Presto card, which costs $6 to replace (and Councillor John Campbell spent part of Tuesday tweeting his tragicomic customer-service hassles as he tried unsuccessfully to transfer the balance on his lost card, or even get Presto customer service on the phone to help).