The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has adjusted its timetable to implement its fare-card system, accelerating its completion date and now including its existing streetcar fleet in the mix.
TTC originally planned to phase in its Presto use as new Bombardier streetcars arrived on the property; delivery of the new fleet has fallen behind schedule. Presto is an operating division of Metrolinx, which oversees public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, including GO Transit.
The commission now plans to have Presto available on all active rolling stock by the end of this year, and on all public transit (subways and buses) by the end of 2016, one year ahead of its original schedule, and phasing out existing use of tokens.
"We will go hell for leather to have it all implemented, fully implemented, by the end of 2016, not 2017," TTC CEO Andy Byford told local media. "That means every bus, every streetcar. Maybe not every door on every streetcar but every streetcar, including the old streetcars, we are going to fit with Presto."
On Jan. 1, 2015, TTC began accepting credit and debit card use for purchasing fares.