TTC excitedly announces new payment options in preparation for the New Year, 1995

[alexd]

TTC to add new debit and credit fare-payment options

TORONTO — The Globe and Mail

It’s going to become easier for transit riders in Toronto to pay.

Debit or credit cards are to be accepted for bulk fare purchases starting next month and the TTC is to explore tap-and-pay for single rides.

TTC leaders and Mayor John Tory made the announcement Tuesday morning at the east-end‎ Victoria Park station.

The change will most affect those buying 10 or more tokens or tickets at a time. About 40 per cent of riders still use tickets or tokens.

TTC to add new debit and credit fare-payment options - The Globe and Mail

 

[orchid]

Wow, the future is here!

 

[djfear]

It'd be cool if you could back date all of the post date stamps by 20 years in this thread. 60 years from now when someone is looking at this thread they'll be none the wiser...

 

[Ho||yw0oD]

It's about freakin time. The only reason I ever have cash is in order to buy tokens.

 

[I_bRAD]

Finally. I was pretty upset I didn't have the opportunity to give the bank a cut out of every transaction I made.

 

[coleridge]

Same joke on the radio today:

"And today Microsoft has announced the release of Windows 95, everyone is still talking about the soup nazi in the latest episode of Seinfeld and the TTC is finally allowing debit card and credit card payments"

 

[Blysspluss]

NO SOUP FOR YOU! COME BACK, ONE YEAR!

Oh the mid-90s...

Good times.

 

[praktik]

Well the thing is our transit system really hasn't changed all that much, now has it, since 1995.

There's a new blue stub of a line up on frickin' sheppard.

And that;s about it. Kind of goes to show the chronic underfunding - TTC has a billion dollar operating budget shortfall *just trying to keep current levels of service*

And the next relief really doesn't look likely to come before 2020 - so it will get worse before it gets better. The only incremental improvement I can look forward to is better signaling with tighter spaces between trains on the subway.

 

[erika]

As long as we still have tokens
As long as point of payment and point of control are not separate
It's all fiddling and somewhat pointless

 

[kuba]

as a long-time former user of the TTC and now very irregular user, I can say that as someone who lives in don mills and commutes by ttc downtown, or around the city, the service is what it is. For $2.5 or $3 or whatever I get to sit down, read a book, and be taken somewhere. It's kind of like the stamp. For less than a dollar I can send a letter to BC. That's amazing.

I have a deep respect for the TTC because of all the memorable commutes I took on it when starting in grade 4 I would take the bus one hour each way (well, 1 bus and 2 subways) to/from school. Until my mid 20s when I started working outside of the TTC "zone", I didn't know any other way, and when I take it nowadays, it appears not much has changed for better or worse.

As praktik says, the system is so underfunded, that it's hard to improve it. Small steps, like this one, will help.

 

[basketballjones]

small steps like this one should have been taken decades ago
why do we have token sellers still ffs?
take a look at the costs to run it vs actually being in the 21st century and you will find why the ttc is still in the stone ages

 

[el presidente Highsteppa]

What kuba and praktik said - the system has been neglected for decades and while everyone talks about wanting a better transit system, no one is willing to pay the bill for it.

And that bill gets more and more expensive to improve each year it gets neglected. Thank you Mike Harris and the Federal Government for being chickenshits and trying to make this one of the only municipally funded systems in the world.

 

[kuba]

bbj, i know that this being a union-friendly country / province (for the most part), things will never ever change for the ttc in over a generation most likely. i don't actually care enough to take a look at the costs to run it because for the money I pay, I don't think I deserve more of a system than we have.

 

[kyfe]

As long as we still have tokens
As long as point of payment and point of control are not separate
It's all fiddling and somewhat pointless

The plan is eventually to move 100% to presto only at POP's

 

[wakipaki]

Well the thing is our transit system really hasn't changed all that much, now has it, since 1995.

There's a new blue stub of a line up on frickin' sheppard.

And that;s about it. Kind of goes to show the chronic underfunding - TTC has a billion dollar operating budget shortfall *just trying to keep current levels of service*

And the next relief really doesn't look likely to come before 2020 - so it will get worse before it gets better. The only incremental improvement I can look forward to is better signaling with tighter spaces between trains on the subway.

have to say i somewhat disagree, yes of course the TTC is underfunded, but we can't ignore its utter mismanagement

 

[alexd]

have to say i somewhat disagree, yes of course the TTC is underfunded, but we can't ignore its utter mismanagement

This ^

 

[praktik]

have to say i somewhat disagree, yes of course the TTC is underfunded, but we can't ignore its utter mismanagement

They were crippled out the gate. Even amazing management can't make miracles happen if the resources aren't there.

In order of priority, funding>management quality in terms of understanding todays shitpile

 

[Sal De Ban]

So you're telling me, that this little plastic card, can somehow contain my banking information??? *looks at both sides of the card, puzzled* Crazy, man. What will they think of next? Sending and receiving cellular data via compact telephone devices?

(there have to be some ttc staff that are loving the communications trollout)

 

[videotronic]

They were crippled out the gate. Even amazing management can't make miracles happen if the resources aren't there.

In order of priority, funding>management quality in terms of understanding todays shitpile

billy beane would beg to differ

 

[basketballjones]

bbj, i know that this being a union-friendly country / province (for the most part), things will never ever change for the ttc in over a generation most likely. i don't actually care enough to take a look at the costs to run it because for the money I pay, I don't think I deserve more of a system than we have.

i think it is crazy you can get from mcown to long branch for 3 bucks too
it should be zoned like viva with tickets that last for a few hours

the fact they are just now allowing these purchases and still have token sellersare a couple of the reasons it is so far behind

they also need to do something about the pa system. that thing is abysmal, it is rare indeed i can understand anything they are trying to say in regards to problems. multi-million dollar subways and they cant put in a decent pa system...wts

 

[silver1]

The plan is eventually to move 100% to presto only at POP's

the key word is "eventually"......

Seeing how long it's been kicking around, I'm not holding my breath as to it happening anytime soon. Seems like everywhere else in the world (including other Canadian cities) they can get their act together in a reasonable amount of time, just not in Toronto.

Toronto’s long and winding journey to roll out the Presto pass will continue, 17 years after Hong Kong did it | National Post

 

[Blysspluss]

What kuba and praktik said - the system has been neglected for decades and while everyone talks about wanting a better transit system, no one is willing to pay the bill for it.

And that bill gets more and more expensive to improve each year it gets neglected. Thank you Mike Harris and the Federal Government for being chickenshits and trying to make this one of the only municipally funded systems in the world.

Saskatchewan allocates $0 to municipal transit systems. It is pretty much the only province that does this. TTC is amazing when compared to what this province has in its cities.

You all have it so damn good. I'm jealous.

 

[alexd]

Presto will save us all!

[YOUTUBE]kRW7pITY5Cg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[wakipaki]

They were crippled out the gate. Even amazing management can't make miracles happen if the resources aren't there.

In order of priority, funding>management quality in terms of understanding todays shitpile

The new proof of payment machines that they put in on all Spadina street car stops this summer to accommodate the new street car drivers being glassed off an no longer taking cash fares, do not give change! WTF, forget the fact that the investment in the machines is pointless given the presto rollout, they don't give goddam change!

The stops on the new(ish) separated St Clair street car line, which was finished all of 7 years ago if I'm not correct, are not wide enough to fit the new street cars, so each one had to / has to, be widened by something like 10 cm (of course the order for the new streetcars must be as old the final stages of that construction job), where is your goddam 10 years plan, 15 year?

Have you ever tried to take the Kipling bus from Pearson? Well if you manage to find the stop, given that there are barely any signs, you better have $3 because there isn't a token machine, nor do they make an exception for this driver to give change. You should see the looks of amazement of tourists with only $20 bills.

This list could go on, and on, and on, these are just three recent examples on the top of my mind. I'm sorry, but you're just touting an underfunding narrative (which is true) but only 1/2 the issue. The issues I've listed above are not symptoms of lack of funding, they are from incompetence. The TTC is completely mismanaged, and if I was the provincial or federal government I wouldn't exactly be confident in funding it more, given its utter incompetence.

It's almost like we need to create a new organization that runs our transit, fire everyone, and start from scratch (obviously I don't actually believe this, but i sort of do).

 

[praktik]

It's almost like we need to create a new organization that runs our transit, fire everyone, and start from scratch (obviously I don't actually believe this, but i sort of do).

All those issues are problems to be sure, but all those projects were still tinkering around the edges and none of them, even if perfectly managed, promised much relief for the bigger transit issues such as the lack of a DRL/Eglinton line/etc/etc

All that said I agree with this last part and go further - it should be unaccountable to our democratic mechanisms and property rights should be rescinded. They build where they need to build, compensate fairly, and everyone who complains about the "character of their neighbourhood" can shut the f*ck up while we actually get some shit built.

I vote for a Chinese government body we can borrow for a few decades to do it - they are building shit in China right now while we crumble.