Beginning June 16, GO Transit bus passengers will no longer be able to load funds onto their PRESTO cards when boarding buses. No explanation was given other than a one-sentence announcement made on GO Transit's Facebook page and on GO Transit's website. The announcement is shown alongside a graphic that reads "Load before you GO".
I was surprised by the announcement, even more surprised by the initiative because if GO Transit thinks loading PRESTO cards is part of the delay when boarding, I can't say I've witnessed it. What I found slows down my CAN WE GET TO THE STATION NOW?! commute is on-board ticket sales. People counting out change. The driver counting out change. Passengers rummaging around for change to help out Nana on her way downtown to the hospital who is short on fare. This is what slows down the commute.
In fact, in the three years I've been bus-riding the green limo, only once did I witness someone load $20 onto a PRESTO card. The driver at first had no idea how to do it because no one had asked him to do it before and he had to call into bus operations for instructions. This was in the Spring of 2012. Sure, that was two years ago but I haven't seen another transaction since. Even myself as a bus passenger have never done it. However, some passengers who have taken advantage of this service have encountered problems.
There was a whole Twitter exchange between myself (@thiscrazytrain), @MichaelSuddard, @GOvoygr, @Prestocard and @ellenroseman (yes, *that* Ellen Roseman) about an incident involving @eliphae who loaded funds on a bus and never saw those funds make their way into her PRESTO e-wallet. It took over three weeks for her situation to be resolved and it was only resolved when Ellen Roseman contacted the Media relations manager with Metrolinx (@femwriter). It was a wild west kind of day that day on Twitter.
Reading through the comments on Facebook, it's an even mix of joy and anger at this news. A lot of anger is stemming from people who commute from rural communities who don't necessarily use GO Stations. They rely on the on-board PRESTO terminal to load funds. A lot of joy is stemming from people who hate any kind of bus-passenger payment transactions. "It's one less thing for drivers to worry about", wrote one person. I guess these people don't have anyone on their routes who pay for single rides, and in quarters.
I guess this is a sign of the times, folks. PRESTO allows for online transactions. Bus passengers will have to watch their balances more closely and load funds before the balance enters into red alert, and well before 24 hours til mayday, allowing time for the load to work its way across the GO system.
Below is the account from @eliphae. Did her situation drive the final nail in the coffin for on-board PRESTO loads?
from:
eliphae
to:
cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date:
Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 7:54 PM
subject:
Babbling records of a Presto mess
Hello :D~!
I'd like to thank you again for your help in clearing up my recent Presto nightmare~! Looking back from where I am now, now that its all over, I can't imagine how it'd been solved without tackling the incident face on and making the necessary calls to nag at their customer service to get something done. For that, I'd have to thank you and numerous others on Twitter for keeping me grounded and pointed in the right direction!
So now that its over, GO Voyageur kindly poked at me to make a documentation of the entire recent run in with Presto and the particular circumstances that started off this entire month-long epic fail by the transit system. This will probably not be very concise and will definitely run off random tangents, but please bear with me.
I work in Hamilton, and journey there and back to Oakville everyday for the past few years. I usually make my transit by taking the more economical option of carpooling with coworkers, but now and then I found myself having to take the GO Transit instead. Now, one of my coworkers had previous let me in on the ability to load your card while boarding the bus, a feature which I found liberating and very convenient. Up to a few weeks ago, I haven't experienced any problems doing this.
So on Friday 14th of March, I boarded the bus as usual and inquired to load my card with a 20$. The driver complied and I was given my receipt. There was a charge for underpayment, and I worried a bit that I may have forgotten to tap off the day before, and thus made doubly sure to tap off hence after. I came home that day by carpool. Imagine my surprise the following Monday, when I tapped on only to be flashed Non-Sufficient Funds!
My usual trip of Oakville to Hamilton, with a stopover at the Hwy407 Oakville carpool lot, comes to the amount of $6.84. I originally had $5.68 in balance, and upon loading a 20, I was definitely expecting more than one ride before it hit the bottom!
That evening, I logged onto the Presto website to try and check my transition records. Unfortunately, it was my parents' card, which they failed to activate properly within the 30 day limit. Therefore another week was spent on trying to get it activated.
At this time, I raged on Twitter and randomly on the Presto Facebook page, giving a go at the passive aggressive approach. Thankfully, you and GOVoyageur and a few other friendly mates heard my aimless flailing and reached out a hand!!
I phoned in numerous times to Presto, and had various well meaning CSR agents insinuate on why patience is a virtue when using their system, and how one must wait a full 24 (if not more) hours before starting the next stage. I refused to load anymore onto the card for fear of it becoming even more muddled up than it is already, and had to instead run downtown several times to the GO Station to flash the card at the balance checker. Apparently you must wait a full 24 hours (if not more) after the card is initiated for activation, before attempting to activate it. Any tries at flashing the card within this 24 hour waiting time is useless.
Finally, on March 21st, one week later, my card was activated on my Presto account, and I was able to check my transit history. Here I shall link once again to the screencap I posted to Twitter;
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BjStWxjCYAAc7IU.jpg:large
Anyone who has accessed their online Presto account has no doubt seen this table. And then possibly spent a good while trying to make heads or tails out of it. The invisible deductions doesn't make it any clearer. But in the end I supposed I made a decent connection of how much funds went or out at each line.
GOVoyageur came to the rescue and made a much in-depth diagnosis of the catpuke chart of doom. I shall attempt to copy and transcript it in its entirety.
8:21 Tap ON. Debit $5.20 base fare. Next, attempt to load $20 to ePurse
8:21 System closes trip. Debit $3.50 Underpayment to York U. Credit ePurse with $16.50.
8:28 Exit bus and tap OFF. System interprets this as tap ON. Debit $5.20 base fare.
8:55 Transfer to Hamilton bound bus and tap ON. This is 2nd Zone 13 entry showing as $0.00 (also a bug)
8:55 System thinks you didn't tap OFF 1st bus, so debit $3.50 Underpayment (reflected in balance)
8:55 At this point you also lost the GO-to-GO transfer credit within 3 hr Travel Window
8:55 (1st Zone 13 entry) Tap ON. Debit base fare of $5.20.
9:38 Exit bus & tap OFF. Debit $1.64 to complete 2nd bus trip to Hamilton.
Woosh.
Apparently the transaction log is read bottom to top, with the newest at the top, except for the Zone 13 entries, which are in reverse order.
From what I gather, the card was tapped on before the driver managed to set the machine on load mode. Then upon the switch, the original trip was cancelled and an underpayment charge was deducted. A new trip wasn't activated until my tap off the bus at the Hwy 407 stop over, which then of course registered as a tap on. I don't really understand the GO-to-GO transfer within the 3 hour travel window, exactly, since it was all within a one hour duration. So the third trip was initiated, somehow...
Anyways, I ended up phoning in to GO Transit, now with some solid evidence of a bugged card system and feeling more credited to ask for a refund. A friendly CSR informed me I would have to wait a week for the inquiry to reach the head of the queue, and that they are apparently very much backlogged.
Over a week later, I was still waiting. And if it were not for the friendly folks on Twitter, I reckon I'd still be waiting. As it were, Michael Suddard managed to direct me to Ellen Roseman, who sent me to Anne Marie Aikins who was able to take up the issue to GO Transit and have it looked at immediately! Cheers for joy!
I was rather hazy and feeling worn out at this point, but was anxious as ever to see it through. Fortunately, a call came the following day at work, from a lady at the GO Transit call center. A credit coupon has been mailed out!! And indeed, I have received it shortly before typing this wall of text.
So the moral of the entire mess? Either load money at a GO Station, or make sure the bus driver know you wish to load, and have it done before any tapping is done! I admit at certain times during the entire mess, I envisioned myself buying paper passes daily instead. No doubt I'd receive the stink-eye from every other passenger for holding up the bus, but at least I'd know where my money is going~!!
So glad it's over.
~Cheers~!!!
ellen roseman 
GO Voyageur 
I agree - it's a confusing statement. Are you saying 64 million people have ridden GO since 1967 or that GO transports 64 million people in a year? If you could help me understand, that would be great. It can't be an annual figure. Your system doesn't support that