[URBAN NOTE] "TTC to complete Presto switch by 2018"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr reports on the hot mess that is Presto implementation for the TTC. I see a long nightmare ahead.

The TTC’s full conversion to the Presto fare card system will take longer than the transit agency had previously told the public.

At a meeting of the Metrolinx board of directors on Thursday, Robert Hollis, Metrolinx vice-president for Presto, said he expected that it could be “well into 2018” before Toronto’s transit agency will be able to phase out all other forms of payment in favour of the fare card.

The TTC had previously told the media and said in public documents that tickets, tokens, and passes would be phased out in 2017. A TTC spokesperson told the Star that the mixed messaging was the result of confusion about when the agency would stop selling older forms of payment, as opposed to when it would stop accepting them.

Exactly when in 2018 the switch will be completed isn’t clear.

“There will be a point I would say sometime later next year when we’re in a position where we start thinking about withdrawing certain fare media, but we haven’t had that discussion or landed any particular dates yet,” Hollis said.

“I’d say somewhere later next year that that starts to begin. And then well into 2018 could be a point where much of the legacy fare media has been retired.”