Special to ThisCrazyTrain.com
by A.L. Gorithm
After
I acquired my PRESTO card in 2012, I undertook to learn as much about this
new-fangled technology as I could before 2/10-trip and monthly passes were
phased out. I understood the basic fare
pricing scheme, but the nebulous sentences (underlined below) in section What are GO Transit fares with PRESTO?
of Web page GO with PRESTO had me
baffled:
·
Under Adult fares ...
If you do not take
the exact same trip each time you travel on GO within a calendar month, your
first 35 rides on GO will be 10%** off the single adult GO fare paper ticket. For
rides 36 and onwards, your discount will be based on the value of the rides
you’ve taken that month.
·
Under Student fares ...
If you do not take
the exact same trip each time you travel on GO within a calendar month, your
first 30 rides on GO will be 17.25%** off the single adult GO fare paper
ticket. For rides 31 and onwards, your discount will be based on the value
of the rides you’ve taken that calendar month.
The
Customer Relations CSR who responded to my query wrote “if you have a PRESTO
fare card and travel throughout our system on different train/bus routes
throughout the month, then the discount for rides 36 or over will be based on
the average per trip cost of the adult rides you have taken from ride 1-35.”
That
explanation didn’t sound quite right, so I phoned for answers to follow-up
questions for specific scenarios I had.
My call was transferred very quickly to a supervisor – with a rather
condescending demeanor – who stated emphatically that the PRESTO discount is
not based on the average cost per trip for the first 35 rides in a month. In his words, “It’s much more complicated
than that.” After peppering him with my
questions and not receiving satisfactory responses, he committed to providing
me with a detailed explanation and examples of how this aspect of PRESTO
works. And that was the last I heard
from him.
Even
though I use PRESTO for a variety of trips on GO Transit, there are never more
than 35 trips in a month. Consequently,
I didn’t lose any sleep over this supervisor’s failed follow-up. After three years of waiting, I asked the
original CSR what happened to the answers that were promised.
My
query was forwarded to Ms. C.M., Supervisor, Customer Relations, who promptly provided
the following response:
Subject: GO Transit, A Division of Metrolinx
EM0018001456
Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 17:02:08 -0400
From: GO Transit Customer Relations
To: Me
Dear Mr. G,
Thank you for your
patience while I’ve looked into this further for you.
I’m happy to provide
you with details regarding the calculation that we use to determine how much
passengers should pay for their loyalty trips if they do not take the same trip
within the calendar month. A detailed breakdown regarding this formula is
below:
The loyalty discount
consists of two parts, a base discount and a step discount. The base discount
is a percentage discount on the single ride fare of the trip. The current base discount rate is 10% for an
adult.
The step discount is
calculated based on the accumulated single ride fare and accumulated step
discount received at the end of previous step.
The current steps end at 35th ride, 40th ride and 70th ride. The step discount rate is 11.13%, 77.32% and
82.8%.
For example, a
customer’s travel pattern is as follows:
-
1st to
30th ride between Union and Oakville (Single fare before discount: $8.15)
-
31st to
38th ride between Union and Burlington (Single fare before discount: $10.30)
-
39th to
44th ride between Union and Oakville (Single fare before discount: $8.15)
-
45st to
50th ride between Union and Burlington (Single fare before discount: $10.30)
PRESTO fare calculation:
Step discount for 1st
to 35th ride = $0.00 (Initial Step)
Fare deducted for 1st
to 30th ride:
o
Base
discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o
Step
discount = $0.00
o
Total
discount =$0.81 + $0.00 = $0.81
o
Fare
deducted = $8.15 - $0.81 = $7.34
Fare deducted for
31st to 35th ride:
o
Base
discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o
Step
discount = $0.00
o
Total
discount = $1.03 + $0.00 = $1.03
o
Fare
deducted = $10.30 - $1.03 = $9.27
Step discount for
36th to 40th ride
o
Accumulated
single ride fare = $8.15 x 30 + $10.3 x 5 = $296.00
o
Accumulated
step discount received = $0.00
o
Number of
rides to next step = 40 – 35 = 5
o
Step 1
discount rate = 11.13%
o
Step
discount = ($296 x 11.13% - $0.00)/5 = $6.68
Fare deducted for
36th to 38th ride
o
Base
discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o
Step
discount = $6.68
o
Total
discount = $1.03 + $6.68 = $7.71
o
Fare
deducted = $10.3 - $7.71 = $2.59 (75% off)
Fare deducted for
39th to 40th ride
o
Base
discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o
Step
discount = $6.68
o
Total
discount = $0.81 + $6.68 = $7.49
o
Fare
deducted = $8.15 - $7.49 = $0.66 (92% off)
Step discount for
41st to 70th ride
o
Accumulated
single ride fare = $296.00 + $10.30 x 3 + $8.15 x 2 = $343.20
o
Accumulated
step discount received = $6.68 x 5 =
$33.40
o
Number of
rides to next step = 70 – 40 = 30
o
Step 1 discount
rate = 77.32%
o
Step
discount = ($343.20 x 77.32% - $33.40)/30 = $7.73
Fare deducted for
41st to 44th ride
o
Base
discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o
Step
discount = $7.73
o
Total
discount = $0.81 + $7.73 = $8.54
o
Fare
deducted = $8.15 - $0.81 - $7.73 = $0.00 (total discount cannot exceed single
ride fare, 100% off)
Fare deducted for
45th to 50th ride
o
Base
discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o
Step
discount = $7.73
o
Total
discount = $1.03 + $7.73 = $8.76
o
Fare
deducted = $10.30 - $1.03 - $7.73 = $1.54 (85% off)
Please don’t hesitate
to contact me again if you have any additional questions.
Thank you for letting
me assist you with this matter.
Sincerely,
C.M.
Supervisor, Customer
Relations, GO Transit
Cc. Greg Percy, President, GO Transit
I
thanked Ms. M. for clarifying this calculation for me. Her efforts are most appreciated.
So,
there you have it. Did everyone get
that? Good!
Your homework assignment is a forensic accounting exercise – pour over your monthly PRESTO transaction logs and ensure the correct fares were charged to your ePurse.
Have fun!
Your homework assignment is a forensic accounting exercise – pour over your monthly PRESTO transaction logs and ensure the correct fares were charged to your ePurse.
Have fun!
4 comments:
Who the eff wrote this piece of garbage software???
I am SO confused!
Accenture wrote and maintains this so-called software.
Good job Libs for foisting this on us rather than a company with experience in fare cards.
Simpler version should be as follows:
1) Imagine you'd paid full-fare for all your trips. Find the total
2) Divide this total by the full fare you are about to take. Call this 'magic number'
3) Actual discount would be as follows:
* Magic number = 1-35: 10%
* Magic number = 36-40: 90%
* Magic number = 41+: 100%
.... but sadly, it isn't. :-(
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