All streetcars to be Presto-enabled by year's end

The Presto prepaid electronic fare card now works on 100 of the TTC's 230 older streetcars and transit officials hope all streetcars will be Presto enabled by year's end.

• TTC considers major changes to fare payment

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At a news conference this morning, Ontario Transport Minister Steven DelDucasaid Presto machineswill be added to 10 to 15 of the older streetcars each day until the entire fleet is Presto-enabled.

Passengers canpre-load the electronic card with money at special kiosks inside stations or online. Riders can then pay theirfareby tapping card readers at TTC stations and as they board buses and streetcars.

Byford expects customers will embrace Presto

TTC CEO Andy Byford said he expects passengers who currently use tokens or cash to embrace the shift to Presto.

"Very rapidly people come to realize the absolutebenefit and convenience of tapping and not having to fiddle around with cash and tokens," he said.

TTC Chair Josh Colle said currently Presto accounts for about 2.5 per cent of all TTC trips. He said it will likely take some time for passengers to break the habit of paying withtokens or cash.

"People in Toronto have been using the same fare media for it seems like 100 years," he said.

Colle said Presto adds convenience for customers and saves the TTC money, as staff will increasingly have lesscash and fewertokens to count and store.

"It's an inefficient way for us tooperate and far less convenient to our customers," he said.

Presto allows the TTC to set different fares based on the time customers travel. Colle said the TTC is looking at peak-hour pricing, which means passengers travelling during rush hour would pay more.

The idea is to encourage more customers to travel at off-peak times to easethe rush-hour burden on the system.

Tickets and tokenswill be sold until the end of 2016 and accepted until mid-2017.

The TTC's11new streetcars, which are currently only in service on the 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfrontroute, come Presto enabled.

Transit riders will be able to use Prestoon all TTC subway stations, streetcars and buses by the end of 2016.