TTC losses from faulty Presto machines `does not appear to be overstated,´ says Toronto´s auditor general
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Presto devices are failing at higher rates than previously reported, Metrolinx has made “unauthorized withdrawals� from a TTC bank account, and there are so many gaps in the management of the electronic fare-card system it’s impossible to say how much money Toronto’s transit agency is losing as a result of it. Those are among the startling conclusions in a new report on the Presto system released Monday by Toronto’s auditor general. The goal of the 110-page report from Auditor General Beverly Romeo-Beehler was to determine whether the TTC is collecting all the revenue it should through Presto, the fare system that is owned by provincial agency Metrolinx and is now the primary method for Toronto transit riders to pay their fares. The latest TTC figures show Presto accounts for more than 30 million trips a month. Romeo-Beehler concluded the TTC isn’t collecting all the revenue it should through Presto, but “information gaps and control weaknesses� in how the system is administered make it impossible to put a firm number on the losses. TTC chair Jaye Robinson said the report signals major problems with the fare-card system. “It’s been a bumpy road and a lot of this is not acceptable ... We’re losing revenue that we desperately need to run a cash-strapped system,� said Robinson (Ward 15, Don Valley West). The TTC has previously estimated faulty Presto devices cost the agency $3.4 million last year, and Romeo-Beehler found that figure “does not appear to be overstated� and “may even be understated� given the problems with the system outlined in her report. Those problems include significant limitations with how the reliability of Presto devices on TTC vehicles and in stations is calculated.According to the report, bus and streetcar Presto readers that are “frozen� and unable to accept passenger’s payment are sometimes mistakenly captured as in service by ...