Thursday, September 25, 2014

PRESTO is happy to take your money and doesn't want to be a money terrorist

Because I really do feel PRESTO enjoys holding my money hostage, I had a chat with someone who knows a lot about PRESTO today.

And if she doesn't know the answer, she's got a special gold phone she uses that connects her to a guilded room in an ivory tower, where she can summon minions to bring her the answers on silver platters; notes written in Old English script on ivory-colored 100 pound paper. Similar to the paper you thought you needed to print your resume on when you were in 10th grade and applying for a part time job at Canadian Tire.

She wanted to clarify a few things I mentioned in this morning's rant.

You *can* use your PRESTO card as an electronic wallet to pay for fares for other people traveling with you. The key is how the transaction takes place. The fare is calculated and the card is then used to debit the fare from the funds in your PRESTO account. You can pay for you, your nana and the nice guy who asked nana for her phone number.  Then you tap your fare last.

Sounds simple enough. Right? I'll be trying this tomorrow night on the way home from Union Station and I'll be traveling with my husband and daughter.

My expectations are pretty high and y'all know what I'm like when I'm crushed.

6 comments:

  1. BickySeptember 25, 2014 at 5:28 PM

    Good luck! I pray that the PRESTO Gods be with you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2014 at 5:42 PM

    Yup .. that's how it works ... tell the driver that you wish to buy a ticket using the presto card BEFORE tapping on, the driver will charge the ticket to your e-purse (the price of the ticket is deducted from your e-purse balance)... after the ticket is printed, tap on as you normally would to pay your fare. Only takes 30 seconds to do... nice and simple. I do it all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FREDSeptember 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM

    And suddenly an important staff meeting is called for 2 pm tomorrow for all UNION CSRs working late afternoon to evening shifts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PeterSeptember 25, 2014 at 6:34 PM

    To be clear, the price of the ticket that is debited from your ePurse is the regular fare. Only the last fare, i.e. the tap on, is the PRESTO discounted amount.

    ReplyDelete
  5. papSeptember 26, 2014 at 1:45 PM

    Out of curiosity is it possible to do this for a GO train ride? I highly doubt it, but was wondering. Thanks for anyone that can enlighten me - have a great weekend all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. PeterSeptember 28, 2014 at 9:03 AM

    @pap: Yes, it's like the bus. Just tell the ticket agent at the train station. They will issue the paper tickets and charge them to your card, after which you tap on as you would normally. HTH.

    ReplyDelete

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