GTA transit fare card test begins

A small number of Greater Toronto Area commutersare gettingtheir first taste of a smart fare card that will allow them to navigate the region's myriad transit systems.

Seventy-fiveriders from the GTA began using the Presto card on Monday as part of a pilot project initiated by Metrolinx, the regionaltransit agency.

The credit-card sized pass is machine-readable and reloadable and will eventually work on all public transportation inthe Greater Toronto Area.

Userscan load money onto the cards online, by phone or at participating stations.

Those currentlyenrolledin the pilot project canuse their cards at three GO Transit stations Union, Oakville, and Bronte. Some Oakville Transit buses are also equipped to read the Presto card.

The only Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) station that takes the card is Union, although the program will be expanded to include other major stations in the coming months.

Reader deducts fare automatically

The vice-president of policy and planningofMetrolinxsaid using the card is easy.

"So you arrive at the station, you tap on to a little register," Leslie Wootold CBC News. "It deducts automatically from your card that you registered with a certain amount of money and you're on your way and that's it. No transfers, no metal, no paper."

In the next three weeks, 500 people will begin testing the Presto Card, Woo said.

The program will be steadily expanded over the next few months to include a number of stations and transit agencies.

Coming by Spring 2010:

• Oakville Transit.
• Burlington Transit.
• GO's Lakeshore West Georgetown and Milton rail lines.
• TTC's Bloor/YongeCollege, Dundas, Queens Park, St. George, St. Patrick stations.

Coming by Fall 2010:

• Mississauga transit.
• Brampton transit.
• GO Transit's Lakeshore East, Barrie and Richmond Hill GO rail lines and bus routes.
• Hamilton Street Railway.
• TTC's Kipling and Islington stations

By the winter of 2011:

• Durham Region Transit
• York Region Transit
• GO Transit's Stouffville GO Rail line and all remaining GO Bus routes
• The TTC's Don Mills, Downsview and Finch Subway stations.

Ottawa's OC Transpo system is also expected to begin using the card system by the winter of 2011. The province hasawarded a$250-million 10-year contract to management consultant company Accenture to design and implement the Presto card system.