User:PRESTO card/Sandbox

The PRESTO card, originally known as the GTA Farecard, is a smartcard-based fare payment system for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The system was trialed from June 25, 2007 to September 30, 2008. Implementation is to be conducted in phases. The province has announced Accenture will be contracted to implement the card system. Metrolinx will be responsible for administering the fare card.

Background
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), together with GO Transit, Ottawa’s OC Transpo and eight municipal transit partners within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Hamilton have undertaken the design, development and implementation of a seamless regional transit farecard system (PRESTO) based on contactless (“Smartcard”) technology. The PRESTO system is designed to support the use of one common farecard for fare payment on the various participating public transit systems. PRESTO will allow customers to ride on any participating transit system without pre-purchasing tickets or passes and without knowing in advance the fare policies of each system. The PRESTO card, which is the size of a gift or debit card, will use “stored-value” in the form of a common electronic purse (e-Purse) as the medium for all fare payment transactions in addition to cash. Electronic readers will scan the customer’s PRESTO card (which contains a computer chip within the card) as they board their public transit vehicle or enter a station calculating the correct fare and deducting it from their card balance - all within one-third of a second. Unlike paper tickets or passes, the card is made of durable plastic for extended use. The system will also allow customers the choice of loading their PRESTO card with cash value via preauthorized (autoload) payments, by telephone, Internet and at selected retails outlets. Customers with “registered” cards will be able to replace the value on a lost or stolen card, unlike tickets, tokens, passes or cash. The PRESTO System will provide transit participants with centralized farecard procurement, initialization and distribution, reporting services, revenue clearing and settlement, customer call centre and Internet services, maintenance and support and Third Party Sales Agency Management. The PRESTO System will provide the following customer and transit system benefits:


 * A common means for all fare payments;
 * Faster system boarding to improve transit efficiencies;
 * Support seamless transit service in the GTA and across Ontario;
 * Provide a simple and convenient payment option that reduce monthly line-ups;
 * Enhanced security for the protection of value on lost or stolen cards;
 * Improved convenience translated to increased transit use addressing congestion and environmental concerns;
 * Provide a standardized technology platform; and
 * Potential extension of PRESTO concept to other services, such as parking, municipal services, joint ventures, and more.

Participating Service Providers

 * GO Transit
 * Oakville Transit
 * Burlington Transit
 * Brampton Transit
 * Mississauga Transit
 * Hamilton Street Railway
 * York Region Transit
 * Durham Region Transit
 * OC Transpo
 * Toronto Transit Commission (12 subway stations)

2007 trial
In July 2007, 500 commuters who normally commute from Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations in Mississauga to Union Station in downtown Toronto received a free card and tried the system under Launch 1. The Launch 1 trial concluded September 30, 2008. Because Mississauga has a neighbourhood shuttle service in Meadowvale and Cooksville to ferry passengers to GO Transit, officials throught it would be the perfect environment to test the fare system. Most of the implementation will be completed by 2010, giving the Greater Toronto Area's local and regional transit operators a single fare-payment system to replace the current mixture of passes, tickets, tokens, and cash-based systems. The GTA operations area covers over 8,100 square kilometres, and is home to about 5.5 million transit riders. Since the PRESTO System Project is a provincial program, OC Transpo in Ottawa will also implement the program by winter of 2011. During the Launch 1 trial, the PRESTO card could be used at:
 * GO Transit (Meadowvale and Cooksville GO stations only)
 * Mississauga Transit (shuttle routes of 60 Meadowvale Shuttle-Crosscurrent, 62 Cooksville Shuttle-Webb, 63 Cooksville Shuttle-Kaneff, 64 Meadowvale Shuttle-Montevideo only)
 * Toronto Transit Commission (Union subway station only)

Rollout
Starting in fall 2009 the PRESTO card will be introduced in three stages:

Stage One
Fall 2009: link=GO Transit|right|100px link=Toronto Transit Commission|right|100px
 * Field Trial
 * GO Transit
 * Union Station
 * Oakville rail station
 * Bronte rail station
 * Oakville Transit
 * 10 buses on one bus route
 * Toronto Transit Commission
 * Union Station

Stage Two
Winter 2010: link=Oakville Transit|right|100px link=Burlington Transit|right|100px
 * GO Transit
 * Lakeshore West GO Rail line
 * Oakville Transit
 * Burlington Transit
 * Toronto Transit Commission subway stations
 * Bloor-Yonge
 * College
 * Dundas
 * Queen's Park
 * St. George
 * St. Patrick

Stage Three
Summer 2011: link=Brampton Transit|right|100px link=Mississauga Transit|right|100px Fall 2011: link=Hamilton Street Railway|right|100px link=York Region Transit|right|100px Winter 2011: link=Durham Region Transit|right|100px
 * GO Transit
 * Milton and Georgetown GO Rail lines and associated GO Bus routes
 * Brampton Transit
 * Mississauga Transit
 * Toronto Transit Commission subway stations
 * Islington
 * Kipling
 * GO Transit
 * Barrie, Stouffville and Richmond Hill GO Rail lines and associated GO Bus routes
 * Hamilton Street Railway
 * York Region Transit
 * Toronto Transit Commission subway stations
 * Don Mills
 * Downsview
 * Finch
 * GO Transit
 * Lakeshore East GO Rail line and associated GO Bus routes
 * Durham Region Transit

Stage Four
Winter 2011: link=OC Transpo|right|100px
 * OC Transpo (Ottawa)

Toronto Transit Commission
While all other transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton will fully implement the card, the Toronto Transit Commission had expressed concerns over the cost to implement the card system. The TTC has only committed to implement the card at twelve of its major subway stations by 2010. As the majority of commuters in the GTA use the TTC, this plan would greatly limit the use of the fare card to the smaller suburban transit systems. The TTC has approved in principle the development of a smartcard system that is compatible with PRESTO. The project has received $140 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments, however the TTC has estimated in its 2009-2013 budget that the project would take $365 million to complete.

How to use
The cards are available at transit depots, retail outlets, over the phone and online for $5. At the time of receiving the card, a pass or a money value of at least $10 must be loaded into the card. This system is more advanced than others because rather than just money values, passes (up to three per transit system at a time) can also be stored in the card however this option will not be available until Stage 3 of implementation. When boarding, riders tap the prepaid card, embedded with a computer chip, on a reader. The reader will check for either the pass's expiry date, or automatically deduct the fare from the card. The fact that the cards work on multiple transit systems is only one of their advantages. While the Presto card is automatically set for adult fares, in Stage 3, the card can also be set for fares of a different category, for students or seniors, for example. A feature allows more value to be added before the card runs out. Lost cards of registered users remain active within 24 hours after reporting the loss. After that, the lost card is blocked and a replacement card holding the money value or pass(es) of the lost card is given to the user with a replacement fee of $5. If there isn't enough money on the card for the journey, a user may still ride on once, as long as the balance of the card isn't $0 or lower. However, the card will have a negative balance and a small fee will apply. The card will let you board for the lowest available fare and will have a loyalty program offering savings to frequent travellers.