TTC blames province as full transition to Presto cards delayed indefinitely
(The Star Food)

There is now no end date for the TTC to complete its drawn-out transition to the Presto fare card system, and the agency is blaming the latest delay on the province, which it accuses of failing to enable crucial features of the program.In a politically charged report released Wednesday, TTC staff say that seven years after Toronto’s transit agency signed an agreement with the Ontario government to adopt Presto, there remain “gaps” in the system that mean the TTC will have to continue accepting tickets and tokens for the foreseeable future.The report lays fault for Presto’s deficiencies squarely at the feet of Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency that owns the fare card system. The TTC alleges Metrolinx hasn’t lived up to the stipulations of the agreement the two parties signed in 2012 to implement Presto across Toronto’s network. “Metrolinx has not committed to delivering the remaining and unfulfilled contractual obligations that were fundamental to the TTC entering the agreement,” the report says.Having to operate both Presto and the “legacy” system of tickets and tokens that the fare card was supposed to replace is expected to cost the TTC roughly an additional $10 million per year. Well-documented reliability problems with Presto devices are one issue the report identifies. But the TTC also says Metrolinx hasn’t introduced promised features such as allowing customers to pay their fares on Presto devices with credit or debit cards, or providing single-use Presto tickets for buses and streetcars.Read more: Here’s how your fellow commuters ride the TTC without payingMetrolinx continues to share Presto users’ data without requiring warrantsInternal TTC briefing slams Presto’s ‘continued performance below targets’The report also says the network of Shoppers Drug Mart stores to which Metrolinx has granted exclusive rights to sell Presto products doesn’t cover e ...