TTC begins major expansion of PRESTO rollout

PRESTO is starting to become a fixture on the TTC, and it will only become more visible in the coming weeks and months as its rollout kicks into high gear. Once a feature found only on new streetcars and a handful of subway stations, PRESTO's presence is starting to be seen across the system.

As far as PRESTO landmarks go, the TTC has now outfitted all of its streetcars with card-reader technology, and the first fare gates went into service at Main Station in late March. The next stage of the rollout is currently taking place at Bay, Wellesley, Sherbourne, and St. Clair stations, all of which should have new fare gates at their various entrances by the end of the month.

Another 10 stations are scheduled to receive new fare gates over the course of May. The target for completing installation across the system is mid-2017, but every station will have PRESTO capability by the end of the year (i.e. some stations will have card-readers but not new fare gates).

Perhaps more significantly, the TTC is set to install PRESTO readers on its buses. Widespread rollout is still a few weeks away, but you should begin to see new machines as the work ramps up, starting with buses serviced at the Queensway Garage. Buses that have PRESTO will be given a decal so that riders can identify them easily.

Even as there will be lots of work left to be done on the PRESTO rollout, by the end of spring many TTC riders will finally be in a position to switch to the new fare system given the amount of infrastructure in place.

Photo via the TTC.

by Derek Flack via blogTO