Toronto transit: At least we've got Presto...

It seems fair to say that, when it comes to how we pay our fares, the GTA’s transit systems have historically lagged behind much of the rest of the world. In Toronto, many riders still pay their TTC fares the exact same way our forefathers did a half-century ago — by depositing an easy-to-lose token into a container minded by a bored-looking attendant.

Which is why using my Presto card to board GO Trains and other transit vehicles can feel pretty satisfying. Presto — the long-in-development fare card currently being rolled out across the GTA and Ottawa — may not be the technology of the future, but at least it’s the technology of the present.

And when Presto works, it lives up to its name — it’s like magic. I can walk into a GO station, wave my card over a reader and, with a pleasant beep, my fare is paid.

But Presto isn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. I found the process of signing up to get my card to be ridiculously convoluted, with each step seemingly involving an inexplicable 24-hour wait.

Worse, on one occasion my Presto card even turned me into a fare-evading scofflaw. On a winter’s night this past January, I had to endure the embarrassment of being given a written warning for non-payment by an understandably stern fare enforcement officer while aboard an eastbound GO train.

At the time, I couldn’t explain it. I had paid. The Presto reader at Clarkson GO had made the expected beep when I passed my card over it.

It wasn’t until later that I pieced together what happened. It was a complicated problem caused, ultimately, by my own error. I had forgotten to “tap off” during my outbound trip.

But still the experience has left me paranoid. Sometimes I even long for the days of having a printed ticket — at least then I knew for certain that I held a valid fare. These days, I find myself double-tapping my card before boarding, just to make sure I’ve really paid.

There are, of course, easy solutions to this problem that don’t require a return to the past. Programming the Presto card readers so they can provide more readable information would be a start. As it is, the screens on the things are mostly useless.

And ultimately technology that obsoletes Presto altogether will be the solution. If I could pay, for example, by waving my smartphone over the reader, my phone could then use its display to tell me my fare is valid. This technology already exists in parts of the world — we’ll see how long it takes to get to the GTA.

Until then, we’ve got Presto. And I like it. Most of the time.