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So I went to Toronto last week for my Ex Libris board meeting and Ontario Library Association Conference. I also went to see the Kafka play Metamorphosis and the Mozart opera Cosi van tutte, and did a kind of museum-crawl (the ROM, the AGO, the Gardiner Museum plus the brand new Aquarium). I was excited by the prospect of using my PRESTO card, which is now supposed to also work on the Toronto transit system - ever since they shut down Ottawa's system for a week in January and boasted that the changeover had been near-perfect. Hah!
The first problem is that many of the subway stops in Toronto are not even equipped with a turnstile that reads Presto cards. It seems Presto is just one of several systems in use there. For example, they don't seem to load monthly or annual passes onto their Presto cards in Toronto the way you supposedly can here. So on my way to my Tuesday Ex Libris meeting, I entered the first station on the University Line (St. Andrew?) and, not seeing any green Presto logos, showed my card to the attendant in the booth by way of enquiry where I could tap it. He just waved me through his turnstile, so I got a free ride in that direction. On the way back to my hotel, entering at Yonge-Eglinton, things were less busy so I actually went up and spoke to the attendant in the booth there. "Sorry, we don't have Presto readers here," she told me. So I paid a $3 cash fare instead. Rather than going directly back to my hotel, I decided to stop off at the Bloor-Yonge stop and do a bit of a Yorkville crawl. Surely they would have a Presto Reader at that stop!
They did. And that's when I encountered problem no. 2. The booth attendant seemed a bit bemused when my card didn't work at one of the turnstiles but helpfully suggested I try one on his other side that also bore the Presto logo. No luck. I broke down and bought a supply of tokens for the rest of my time in Toronto, but still attempted to use my Presto card whenever I saw a turnstile with the green Presto logo. In one instance, a fellow passenger earnestly coached me for several minutes on the use of my card before reluctantly conceding that my Ottawa card probably would not work after all. Funny thing was, the reader didn't even gong me or provide some message like "Card rejected". Finally when I tried to use my Presto card at Union Station, an attendant came over to me and said "Quick question - where are you from?" When I replied Ottawa, he sort of nodded knowingly and said he thought so, it probably wouldn't work here. Clearly he'd encountered the problem before. I haven't approached anyone in Ottawa about this yet - stay tuned!
The first problem is that many of the subway stops in Toronto are not even equipped with a turnstile that reads Presto cards. It seems Presto is just one of several systems in use there. For example, they don't seem to load monthly or annual passes onto their Presto cards in Toronto the way you supposedly can here. So on my way to my Tuesday Ex Libris meeting, I entered the first station on the University Line (St. Andrew?) and, not seeing any green Presto logos, showed my card to the attendant in the booth by way of enquiry where I could tap it. He just waved me through his turnstile, so I got a free ride in that direction. On the way back to my hotel, entering at Yonge-Eglinton, things were less busy so I actually went up and spoke to the attendant in the booth there. "Sorry, we don't have Presto readers here," she told me. So I paid a $3 cash fare instead. Rather than going directly back to my hotel, I decided to stop off at the Bloor-Yonge stop and do a bit of a Yorkville crawl. Surely they would have a Presto Reader at that stop!
They did. And that's when I encountered problem no. 2. The booth attendant seemed a bit bemused when my card didn't work at one of the turnstiles but helpfully suggested I try one on his other side that also bore the Presto logo. No luck. I broke down and bought a supply of tokens for the rest of my time in Toronto, but still attempted to use my Presto card whenever I saw a turnstile with the green Presto logo. In one instance, a fellow passenger earnestly coached me for several minutes on the use of my card before reluctantly conceding that my Ottawa card probably would not work after all. Funny thing was, the reader didn't even gong me or provide some message like "Card rejected". Finally when I tried to use my Presto card at Union Station, an attendant came over to me and said "Quick question - where are you from?" When I replied Ottawa, he sort of nodded knowingly and said he thought so, it probably wouldn't work here. Clearly he'd encountered the problem before. I haven't approached anyone in Ottawa about this yet - stay tuned!
