Avani Abraham | Contributor
Featured Image: Colourful Metropasses will be replaced by a single PRESTO card. | Chrysa Dancey
Many York commuters take advantage of the convenience and savings associated with the TTC Post-Secondary Monthly Pass. However, these Metropasses will no longer be a valid payment option by the end of this year. Instead of purchasing a new Metropass each month, users will be required to load a Post-Secondary Monthly Pass onto their PRESTO card, which is being phased in by the TTC.
The TTC’s timeline for phasing out other forms of payment in favour of PRESTO will involve no longer accepting Metropasses after December 31, halting the sale of tickets and tokens in the summer of 2019, and ultimately ceasing to accept them at the end of 2019. After this, “we will sell single ride PRESTO cards and accept cash on a limited basis,” says Stuart Green, the senior communications specialist of media relations and issues management for the TTC.
The Post-Secondary Monthly Pass on PRESTO will cost the same as the Metropass—$116.75—and will still provide unlimited travel on the TTC per month. However, users will have to pay $6 to purchase the initial reloadable card, and will also need to purchase a post-secondary TTC photo ID for $5.25 from the Sherbourne Station Photo ID Centre.
Students will need to carry this photo ID with them along with their PRESTO, as “the card is required to prove full-time registration, and that students are eligible for the discounted rate,” says Green.
While the trek to get a photo ID, and the cost of purchasing a PRESTO may be inconvenient, the benefits seem to lie primarily in its additional security.
“PRESTO offers many benefits from the ability to load and reload online, to protecting the card’s balance in the event a registered card is lost,” Green states.
In comparison to a Metropass, if the PRESTO card is lost, the account can be utilized to cancel one’s card and get a replacement with all funds (and monthly pass) transferred over.
A concern raised by many York Region commuters is how the implementation of PRESTO will affect the convenience, cost, and efficiency of transferring between systems.
Regarding this, Green states: “The TTC is working with Metrolinx and the regional transit systems to develop integrated co-fare systems.”
Scott Money, from Metrolinx Media Relations, states: “Users can also use their PRESTO card to travel seamlessly across 11 transit systems. If they’re connecting with GO Transit or UP Express, PRESTO automatically gives them a discount on their fares.”
The Post-Secondary Monthly Pass will be available on PRESTO this November at Shoppers Drug Mart locations, PRESTO Fare Vending Machines at select TTC subway station entrances, and on the PRESTO website.
Like Metropasses, the loadable, monthly passes will be available eight days before the end of the month, and will continue to be sold until five days after the start of the month.
With files from Victoria Silman.
