PRESTO: a provincial fare card on a city transit system
Toronto's fare card is not Toronto's. PRESTO is built and operated by Metrolinx, an agency of the Government of Ontario, and the TTC buys it as a managed service. More than 8,700 readers began taking debit and credit taps on 15 August 2023, at subway gates and on every bus and streetcar, though only at the adult fare. Tokens and paper tickets were accepted until 1 June 2025; monthly passes end on 31 August 2026, replaced by an automatic cap after 47 paid trips.
The City of Toronto's Auditor General estimated the TTC lost at least $64M CAD in passenger revenue in 2018: $61M to fare evasion and $3M to malfunctioning Metrolinx equipment. The auditor said the figure understates the loss, because revenue lost to broken subway fare gates could not be quantified.
🎓 Lesson
The agency riders blame does not own the fare system. The TTC's readers, back office and refund rules belong to a provincial agency, under an agreement whose base term can simply expire in 2027 -- and the TTC has an open Request for Information for a replacement.
Evidence📊 Independent
Scale🗺️ Regional
Cost2006 Accenture master agreement $232M CAD, expanded by more than $1.7B in work added without competitive procurement (Ontario Auditor General, 2020)
FundingProvince of Ontario through Metrolinx; the TTC purchases PRESTO as a managed service
Sources
↗ Metrolinx -- About us'Metrolinx, an agency of the Government of Ontario under the Metrolinx Act, 2006, was created to improve the coordination and integration of all modes of transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.' Lists GO Transit, UP Express and PRESTO among its services, PRESTO being 'an automated fare collection system trusted by 11 different transit agencies'.
↗ TTC -- Debit and credit payment on the TTC starts tomorrow (14 Aug 2023)'More than 8,700 PRESTO card readers have been upgraded to accept debit and credit cards', accepted 'at subway station fare gates, and on board all streetcars, buses and Wheel-Trans vehicles' from 'Tues., Aug. 15'. 'The debit and credit card fare is $3.30, the same as an adult single use PRESTO fare.' Concession riders must keep a configured PRESTO card.
↗ TTC -- Reminder: TTC stops accepting tickets, tokens and day passes (May 2025)'Sun., Jun. 1, 2025, is the last day tickets, tokens, and day passes ... will be accepted as valid fare payment.' 'Today, fewer than one per cent of TTC customers pay with legacy fares.' Corrects the common claim that legacy media were retired in 2019 -- 2019 ended their sale, not their acceptance.
↗ TTC -- Fare capping coming to the TTC in September (May 2026)'Customers who pay their fare with PRESTO, debit or credit card, or mobile wallet, will ride free after 47 paid trips in a calendar month.' 'the Youth, Adult, Senior, and Fair Pass Transit Discount Program TTC Monthly Passes and the Youth and Senior 12-Month Passes will be discontinued' as of 31 August 2026.
↗ TTC -- Fares and passes / Fare types'Monthly fare capping starts September 1, 2026.' Fair Pass Transit Discount Program gives low-income Toronto residents aged 20-64 '36% on TTC single adult fare rides and 21% on TTC adult monthly passes', and the discount is 'programmed onto a PRESTO card'. The cap threshold falls to 40 paid trips in 2027, and only accrues if the rider uses the same card or device all month.
↗ Office of the Auditor General of Ontario -- Metrolinx Operations and Governance, 2020 Value-for-Money AuditFinds that reliance on Accenture 'for over 14 years for all aspects of design, implementation and operation of the PRESTO electronic fare system has led to a high degree of dependency on this service provider', and that work worth more than $1.7B was added to the 2006 $232M master agreement without competitive procurement. PDF would not render in review; figures taken from consistent summaries attributing them to this audit -- confirm before sealing.
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “PRESTO: a provincial fare card on a city transit system” — Toronto, Canada. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/toronto-presto-card/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.
