The TTC is finally delivering on its highly touted, rarely executed modernization plan.
Toronto’s transit authority announced yesterday that it will get rid of ticket collectors by end the of 2016 and eliminate tokens and tickets by mid-2017.
PRESTO cards, the electronic fare payment system already used by GO transit, will serve as their replacement, and will be available in 26 stations by July 1, 2015. Ticket collectors, meanwhile, will be re-assigned to help customers figure out how all this fancy new technology works.
“Tokens and tickets and paper transfers and the Metropasses and day passes…will become a thing of the past,” said TTC Spokesman Brad Ross. “It has been a long time coming.”
Indeed.
All new streetcars will also be equipped with PRESTO card readers by the end of this year – though it’s not guaranteed that transit routes will be equipped with new streetcars. PRESTO readers will be available on the city’s 1,800-plus buses a year later.
Riders will also be able to pay for their trips via credit or debit card. Cash will not be outlawed either.
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