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My friend works for Accenture, which has a contract for Presto
Not a rumour, sorry.

I never said anything about Milton transit. I only know stuff pertaining to GO

Lmao I think I see why you thought that tho.

I said in Milton they're switching from paper to presto only, I meant the Milton go station

There is still the option for a monthly pass, it can be loaded to your Presto card.

Period Passes

A period pass allows you to travel for a set period of time. Some transit agencies offer day, week, and month long period passes for unlimited travel, or limited travel (e.g. Monday - Friday 9am-5pm). Period passes can be purchased and loaded onto your PRESTO card at select customer service outlets only.

https://www.prestocard.ca/en/StaticCont ... Explained/

[quote="Zeeshan Hamid"][quote="thenay"]I never said anything about Milton transit. I only know stuff pertaining to GO [/quote]

Doh! Carry on. Nothing to see here

Zeeshan Hamid[/quote]


As a town councillor, you can help us a lot. It's been no secret that GO Transit has been trying to phase out the monthly passes for quite some time now, and several municipalities have already begun to change their local transit systems to accept Presto.

I don't think Milton needs to do that.

Currently, for $0.55, I can ride the Milton Bus during rush hour to and from the GO Station with a valid GO Pass. All I need to do is flash the pass as I get on the bus. Not once have I ever had a driver ask to make sure any of my 10 ride passes were valid (as the prior Oakville Transit drivers would do if they were dubious).

All I am asking is that in lieu of a having a GO paper pass, we be allowed to show the driver the Presto Card to pay the $0.55.

Otherwise, once the monthly pass is phased out (and I haven't heard a specific month, only '2012') you will be expecting the bulk of your ridership to pay $5.50 a day to get to and from the Go Station instead of the current $1.10.

I can guarantee you one thing, you will LOSE a lot of your current ridership if that happens. There are a lot of us, especially on route 6, who would like to switch to Presto but haven't because we have no desire to spend $100/month on Milton Transit while we spend $20 now.

If the drivers aren't going to check 10 ride tickets now, why worry whether a rider during rush hour actually has any money on their Presto Card?

I have seen people flash a 10 ride on the #6 bus in the morning and then go into the station and buy another because their 10 ride was full (which based on GO Transit's subsidy plan means that rider should have paid full local fare).

Again, if the town doesn't make the switch, or let riders flash their Presto cards, this town will have no transit as most of the riders I've talked to would rather carpool at inconvenient times (i.e. follow someone else's schedule) rather than pay full fare for the 21 working days a month.

Don't think it's not an issue......it's a big issue!

[quote="Zeeshan Hamid"][quote="scheringhart"]Currently, for $0.55, I can ride the Milton Bus during rush hour to and from the GO Station with a valid GO Pass. All I need to do is flash the pass as I get on the bus. Not once have I ever had a driver ask to make sure any of my 10 ride passes were valid (as Oakville transit would do if they were dubious).

All I am asking is that in lieu of a having a GO paper pass, we be allowed to show the driver the Presto Card to pay the $0.55.
[/quote]

The reason you pay $0.55 is because GO kicks in the other $2.20, making sure that Milton Transit gets $2.75. However, GO currently doesn't do that for Presto cards (only for tickets and monthly passes).

Zeeshan Hamid[/quote]

So, does Milton Transit have a plan for when the monthly passes are phased out?

............and last I looked, the drivers pressed a button on the console denoting that the person is a GO Rider - something they could still do..........Go Transit has no clue now whether I use a monthly pass or Presto.......they just know that somebody in Milton pressed a button.

Thank you for explaining the price breakdown. So there really isn't a difference between getting a monthly pass and Presto, especially since in most cases I will be taking the train 20 days a month.

But I still don't understand why we're losing the option of a monthly pass in favour of Presto, if it means we're losing other services related to a monthly pass such as the Milton Transit subsidy. It sounds like it will mostly be a losing situation for many riders, and for the environment as more riders will start driving to the train station rather than taking the bus to the station.

It sounds like it's a done deal then, and GO Transit has made a decision without seeing how it might affect their riders.

_________________

yes the lack of fare discount on milton transit using presto is an issue.

i am using presto now but still keep an old 10 ride ticket in my wallet in case i need to take the bus to get the discounted fare.

if GO really wants people to switch to presto (as is implied) then they need to make sure GO riders are subsidized on local transit regardles of what type of ticket/fare card they use.

[quote="Zeeshan Hamid"][quote="scheringhart"]
............and last I looked, the drivers pressed a button on the console denoting that the person is a GO Rider - something they could still do..........Go Transit has no clue now whether I use a monthly pass or Presto.......they just know that somebody in Milton pressed a button.[/quote]

Are you suggesting we abuse the honour system ?

Zeeshan Hamid[/quote]


Based on statements like this "i am using presto now but still keep an old 10 ride ticket in my wallet in case i need to take the bus to get the discounted fare." from the previous poster, it is being abused now.

Also, if you read the GO Transit Tariff, the local transit drivers are expected to check each and every ticket for the subsidy to be paid (and the old Oakville Transit drivers did that).

Auto-reload is one difference. Never have to stand in line for a ticket again. Especially awesome on the first day of the month when the line-up to get a monthly pass is huge.

Another difference is that you can print out your Presto use come tax time instead of keeping all of the monthly passes.

If you take the subway you always get the $2.50 fare with Presto. Better than fussing with tokens and if you're only 20 days a month on TTC it is cheaper than a Metro Pass. Not all TTC stations have Presto though.

If you're not taking Milton Transit to get to the GO station, Presto is far more convenient. Seems like someone (Milton Transit users or councilors) should be asking GO Transit about this. Makes sense to me for Presto to be used for the subsity. Not sure what their reasoning is.

Just a quick update, GO/Metrolinx has delayed full on use of Presto til May now (was suppose to be February).

So paper tickets will still be made available until then at least. I'll post any other news as it comes up from a guy I know who works at Accenture for Metrolinx/GO.

Was told as of May 1st you can show your Presto card and pay $0.60 for the bus connection.

In response to the above, Presto never costs more than the monthly pass. I use presto from Bronte GO and if my monthly ride amount starts coming close to the monthly pass amount I start getting charged $0.96 per ride, and if I equal the monthly pass amount within the same month, my rides register as free when I tap on.

It is actually cheaper to use Presto than it is to use the monthly pass. You never pay more than the monthly pass amount, and you pay less if you don't use the train service as frequently.

The fact that you never have to waste time lining up to buy a new pass is also a huge benefit.