Fare system duel continues with website updates

Of the 68 parties who requested the details on the TTC's open payment requirements, only 11 have submitted the official application for the multi-phased bidding process.

According to the TTC's procurement website, Accenture, the company that designed the provincial Presto payment system being rolled out by GO Transit is not among them. Neither is MasterCard unless it is hidden under another name in a consortium.

Visa, however, is moving ahead on in the procurement process which will see interested parties talk turkey over the next few weeks on the details of the TTC's specs.

Meantime, to counter allegations from some TTC officials that the financial details of its open payment deal would eventually be more transparent than those surround Presto, the province has added some details of the Presto Accenture contract to the Presto website. The only dollar details, however, are those that have been previously quoted by the government and Presto officials.

Presto peeve from one of GO's squeaky wheels

A couple of years ago fed-up GO commuter Pat Eales launched an on-line petition complaining about the number of late trains on the Lakeshore West line.

She tapped into a groundswell of discontent that inspired GO to start a customer service committee and pick up its socks. GO's on-time performance has been on the rise and although there are lots of reasons for that, including schedule adjustments that better reflect real trip times, Eales' petition was a watershed moment.

But it wasn't enough to keep her on GO's committee or commuting into Toronto every day. Although she has a new job in the suburbs, Eales continues using Oakville transit and she even got on board with the new Presto fare card when it was introduced on those buses.

But it wasn't long before she found a shortfall with the new fare card. She ran into a negative balance on her card -- something Presto permits once to avoid stranding riders who have made an honest mistake. So Eales immediately went online and used her credit card to top up her e-purse and clear her debt.

But guess what? The next time she got on the bus, her card wasn't accepted by the reader. Seems GO, which administers Presto, doesn't let customers pay their debt and use their card again until they've actually gone into a station and settled up with a ticket agent.

When Eales called to complain and inquire she was told that the rule was clearly posted on the Presto website. But when she asked for a citation she got a vague response and was frustrated because she couldn't find that stipulation anywhere on the website.

So the Toronto Star called GO and transit officials 'fessed up. Eales couldn't find the rules on the website because that information wasn't there. That's been changed, according to Suzanne Adamkowski, manager of Presto client relations, who provided this link on Tuesday.

Wen we asked why on Earth Presto users couldn't clear their debt online Adamkowski was somewhat apologetic. The system was programmed according to the requirements set out by the various transit agencies using it years before Presto was rolled out.

"I can’t answer for what their thinking was at the time. It’s something that’s in the system that would take some reprogramming. There is no plan to fix it immediately and,... there are several things and that’s one of them that I’m bringing up at our operating committees in the next little while," said Adamkowski.

 

Also on the list is a 'remember me' feature so users don't have to retype their long Presto identity number every time they want to enter the site's registered user area. Because the Presto numbers are so long -- mine has 17 digits -- and to make the system more convenient, transit officials are considering allowing you to log into Presto using your email address -- a feature of virtually every website now.

 

"We have a new software deployment going in November that will add things like concessions – the ability for seniors and students to use a Presto card," Adamkowski told me.

 

The limit on how much you can load on your e-purse will also be raised from $320 to $1,000. 

Everybody wants a piece of the TTC's payment action

The specs for the TTC's open fare payment system have been requested by no fewer than 68 parties, including major credit card companies, banks and even Accenture, the company that won the $250 million contract to design the province's rival transit farecard, Presto, which the TTC doesn't want to install.

Some of those names, ranging from newspaper reporters to Metrolinx officials, aren't likely to register as official bidders. But it will be Monday before the TTC publicly announces which companies on the long list are making a serious play for the business, worth about $900 million annually.

The business opportunity is extreme, given that TTC ridership continues to climb and the Canadian market for micro-payments is only going to expand. Transit fares are considered a great gateway to convincing more of us to convert to the so-called contactless credit and debit card for those small purchases we're now transacting in cash.

"The card is the same card you use to buy your newspaper and coffee," Mastercard vice-president Cathleen Conforti told The Toronto Star this summer in a phone interview from her New York office.

She wasn't coy about the company's interest in the TTC and used the Mastercard experience on New York transit by way of example.

"You can use your card to go buy a Metrocard. You register for your monthly pass and give them your credit card information and you tap with your card every day and the payment platform knows you have that. The most important thing we're supplying is the convenience for the consumer," she said.

And there's no hassle for the rider in terms of converting to a special credit card, said Comforti.

"Over 99 per cent of active cards are PayPass enabled. In Canada you do not have an issue in enabling consumer cards. Globally,... it is a feature everybody wants on their card," she said.

Her company, which is on the TTC list, has been involved in transit for years in Salt Lake City, Paris, Liverpool, Warsaw and Taiwan.

Getting the knack for the tap

Just as Presto proponents begin duking it out with the TTC's proposed introduction of an open payment fare system, I'm getting the hang of the still-new-to-us smartcard on GO.

I think I've figured out where I went wrong using the over-ride feature on Presto. I suspect in my eagerness or anxiety I tapped twice at my destination, effectively beginning another trip when I had in fact ended my journey. But when I went to tap back on the next time, the computer showed that I hadn't paid my full fare because that "accidental" trip was never terminated.

The problem I anticipated of forgetting to tap off when I take a GO train from a station other than my regular commute hasn't materialized. I may be guilty of tapping twice a couple of times but so far I haven't forgotten to tap at all.

David Smith, who is managing the Presto project, says there are 8,000 card users. Among those 600 also use the TTC.

The TTC reckons about 10 per cent of its riders also use another transit system.

Metrolinx offers some answers on Presto defaults

On Thursday Metrolinx sent answers to some of my questions about the Presto over-ride function. But in truth, readers came up with most of this information earlier and my subsequent experience using Presto has helped too. But here's what we now know:

1. The over-ride applies only to GO trains because of the distance-based fares the regional service uses. About 96 per cent of GO train riders travel in and out of Union Station so the default function means they don't have to tap off when they get off the train.

2. Information on the default and over-ride functions is available on almost all of the literature and web material supplied by GO, including the GO website, the Presto website and the user guides provided with the card.

3. All the agents selling Presto are trained in explaining the default settings and over-ride function, according to the email I got from GO's media officer.

The default and over-ride are for the convenience of GO riders because they save most people from tapping off when they get off the train, she said.

But I suspect tapping off would be a serious Presto turn-off to passengers who aren't required to do anything with their existing tickets or pass when they reach their destination. Once you've bought a two-ride or 10-ride GO fare you have to have it stamped in one of the point-of-purchase machines at the station before you depart. But there's no requirement at the destination end of the ride.

I've looked at all the material and the links and it looks simple. But right now I'm going to check my transactions record to see why, yet again today, my card was rejected at the Aldershot reader.

Once piece of information I noticed in the course of my research: every time this happens the customer gets charged the highest possible fare.

The Presto chronicles: Part II

Ah Presto. How pleased I was to run into my usual station at Clarkson on Wednesday and tap a reader before dashing for my train -- no ticket line, no point-of-purchase stamping.

The good vibes continued to my next Presto encounter at the TTC's Union Station entrance, where $2.50 was deducted from my Presto account -- less than the $3 cash fare.

Unfortunately things went south when I headed south again at the end of the day.

Heading home from city hall, I wasn't even thinking about whether I had change for the subway. After all I was Presto Girl, master of my transit destiny.

But of course there is no Presto reader at the Dundas TTC station so I dug through my purse for $3 to return to Union. Still not that big a deal because I happened to have three loonies.

At the GO concourse I tried two Presto readers to deduct the fare for my trip home. But instead of the merry green light and electronic bell I got a nasty message about technical difficulties which I took to mean the reader wasn't working. Surely the problem wasn't my card.

I approached a Presto promotion booth in search of a third reader. The two near the booth were still hooded, apparently not yet activated.

No matter, one of the Presto people led me to another card reader near the GO ticket counter. But no joy, same nasty message.

It must be a problem with my card, she said, and sent me to the ticket counter by which time I was getting a little anxious because it was close to the hourly train departure time. When I approached one of the four or five available ticket agents, I was told only one agent was available for Presto customers. So I stood to the side of the line and watched the minutes tick down to my train time.

I can report that the ticket agent charged with Presto did an excellent job helping the man ahead of me, whose needs had nothing to do with Presto from what I could see. She spent lots of time helping him navigate a trip somewhere in the wilds of the GTA.

But I confess I wasn't thinking about the agent's gold star as much as I was thinking about how annoyed I was going to be if she didn't get to me soon. I actually considered buying a ticket from another window just so I could be sure to catch my train.

But finally, the Presto-certified agent dispatched the other customer and called up my card history on her computer.

"Did you forget to tap off?" she said.

"No," said I. "I didn't need to tap off. I have a default setting on my card."

"Well it says here you owe about $5," she said.

"The card must not have registered when I tapped on this morning at Clarkson," I told her.

She said that was probably the case but I wasn't sure if she believed me or if this is a common problem. I would swear that the Clarkson reader had given me the green light and that welcoming electronic ping.

Later, I checked my Presto history online. Indeed there was no record that I had ever been to Clarkson so either I dreamt the green light and tone from the reader there or it failed me. I'm willing to concede either one is possible.

I made my train. The world continues to turn and I tapped on again Thursday morning, remembering to hit the over-ride button as I was coming from Aldershot this time. I also remembered to tap off when I got to Union.

So here's hoping that Wednesday's glitch was somehow my fault. Although I'm pleased to continue my experiment for now, I don't know if it would take more than a single missed train to turn me off the Presto experience.

Reading the fine print on Presto if you can find it

Summer seems like the perfect time for The Toronto Star's Transportation Reporter to test the province's new Presto fare card.

The long-awaited convenience has finally gone live on GO's Lakeshore West line used regularly by the reporter. She also uses the subway and, occasionally, the local bus at either end of her commute.

Presto seemed perfect -- no hunting for change or tokens, no buying different tickets depending on whether we're commuting from Clarkson or Aldershot, and no need to calculate 10-ride or monthly pass discounts for a period in which the commuter will likely be off for a week or more on vacation. It's supposed to do all that for us. Plus we can avoid the beginning-of-the-month line up for our monthly pass because we can load our card online.

This reporter has easily written a dozen stories touting Presto's convenience.

But in all the interviews with Presto officials, not one person has mentioned the card's default and over-ride features, which you need to know about before you buy a card for $6 and load it up with more of your hard-earned loonies.

The Presto website gives these features only a passing reference and refers you to the GO ticket agents who sell the cards for more information.

So in the interest of full disclosure you should know that Presto packs a subtle punch if you veer from your regular commute.

When you buy the card you'll be asked if you'd like to pick a default setting. That means when you do your usual commute you need only tap Presto before you get on the train.

But if you get on at another station not part of your card default setting, you have to remember to press the over-ride button on the electronic Presto reader at your departure time and then tap and press that button again when you arrive at your destination.

It's not that the additional tap and button take a long time, it's just that human beings can be forgetful, especially if they're rushing off the train.

What happens if you forget to activate the over-ride is anybody's guess since neither the ticket agent or the website told us that. If you take a trip shorter than your usual trip, do you forfeit the difference if you forget to tap when you get off the train? If you take a longer trip, could Presto be enabling cheaters and unwittingly setting all of us up for fare increases?

 We've emailed our questions via the Presto site and received an electronic assurance that we'll get a reply within five business days. We'll let you know.