Originally Posted by pinkprincess

Not sure how they're making more money from this, since the cost of ride on Presto is less than a normal ride. The monthly pass costs less. You discount on every ride because you're not limited to a certain destination. There's lots of ways to get around the initial $6 fee for the card; I showed them a previously bought 10-ride ticket.

What I was referring to is the fact that people do sometimes forget to tap off and each time that happens GO transit makes extra money because the person will be charged until the end of the line (i.e. if someone commutes from Oakville and forgets to tap off they will be charged for a trip to Union Station).

Originally Posted by dreamer21

What I was referring to is the fact that people do sometimes forget to tap off and each time that happens GO transit makes extra money because the person will be charged until the end of the line (i.e. if someone commutes from Oakville and forgets to tap off they will be charged for a trip to Union Station).

that happened to me on my first trip haha. I barely use Go Bus and they switched my 10 ride pass to presto card. I thought you just use it the old fashion and didn't know you are supposed to tap off. And there went my 20 bucks out of the window.

Originally Posted by WeRunTheCity

..
But Presto is a freaking pain in the ass when you are riding city bus, taking train and then again taking Go bus to school and You freaking tap on and tap off like 5 times. They gotta do something about it, technology is supposed to make it easier to travel not annoying.

So tapping 5 times, and only having to keep track of a card is harder than having to deal with putting a ticket into a slot, keeping track of a transfer, having to buy a train ticket, and then having to give a GO ticket? Seems like so much harder to tap! Derp.

Originally Posted by RyanC

So tapping 5 times, and only having to keep track of a card is harder than having to deal with putting a ticket into a slot, keeping track of a transfer, having to buy a train ticket, and then having to give a GO ticket? Seems like so much harder to tap! Derp.

how the hell do you keep track of transfer? and you don't need a transfer directly from a Go bus to city bus. If I have a 10 ride pass, I just punch it once and throw it in the bag. Similarly, I also keep my wallet in my backpack and only take it out when I need it, since it's a small thing and can be misplaced easily. But I always have to keep Presto card in my hand reach and has greater chances of getting lost. So getting one ticket and forget about it instead of tapping 5 times much more convenient, at least to me

Not only is PRESTO more expensive than monthly passes (for my route), but the tapping on and off is much more of a hassle than just simply flashing your pass before getting on. And if you forget to tap off, that's more even money you're being charged. It could add up to about $70 more a month for me.

Honestly, switching to PRESTO seems like marketed and disguised way for Metrolinx to hustle more money.

Also, does anyone know if GO still sells monthly passes, or have they forced us over to PRESTO?

I know that 10 ride tickets and 2 ride tickets have been discontinued.

Monthly passes are still available, but I think they're phasing them out... I'm pretty sure Presto's more expensive for me too. Not applicable to most of you, but Brampton Transit's going to stop selling single ride tickets all together and make Presto their main method of payment. With all of the transit subsidiaries pushing it so hard, they must be making a lot of extra money off of people who forget to tap off.

Originally Posted by Yogurt

Honestly, switching to PRESTO seems like marketed and disguised way for Metrolinx to hustle more money.

This is how I see it too

If you are always taking the same trip, you can go to a GO Agent and set a default trip. That way you won't have to tap off, only tap on (takes money for only the specialized default trip).

Originally Posted by AelyaS

Don't worry about them overcharging you. They wouldn't do that. They deduct whatever the cost required is, no more no less.

I hate Presto though

Just recently, I was overcharged using PRESTO. Normally when I make the trip from Square One to Hamilton, it charges me $4.50 when tapping on and $2.52 when tapping off. This time, it charged me $4.50 when tapping on and $4.00 when tapping off.

I logged onto my PRESTO account online to see why - apparently, when I tapped on, it thought I was at Bramalea GO, not Square One. So I was overcharged.

I sent an email about it, and so far no response. I really hope this doesn't happen again, but I see no reason why it couldn't.

Originally Posted by bhatoai

If you are always taking the same trip, you can go to a GO Agent and set a default trip. That way you won't have to tap off, only tap on (takes money for only the specialized default trip).

This is not allowed on routes with GO buses, which all routes to Mac have. Bus drivers will still make you tap.
They initially put a default setting on mine, but I was overcharged a lot. It took a while and several people to figure out what the problem was.

So don't put a default destination to Mac.

:-)

Originally Posted by TheCrucible

Just recently, I was overcharged using PRESTO. Normally when I make the trip from Square One to Hamilton, it charges me $4.50 when tapping on and $2.52 when tapping off. This time, it charged me $4.50 when tapping on and $4.00 when tapping off.

I logged onto my PRESTO account online to see why - apparently, when I tapped on, it thought I was at Bramalea GO, not Square One. So I was overcharged.

I sent an email about it, and so far no response. I really hope this doesn't happen again, but I see no reason why it couldn't.

I would see an agent at a GO station. It will be faster and they can refund you the difference right away.

I think the most likely reason it thought you were at Bramalea was because the bus driver made a mistake.