As of Tuesday, Aug. 15, riders will be able to tap Presto terminals with their credit or debit cards to pay for a single use adult fare . That includes payment cards loaded onto a smartphone or smartwatch.
“Safe, reliable and convenient transit is vitally important to the success of our vibrant city,” TTC CEO Rick Leary said. “It's considered in every decision that we make and every discussion that we have. So I look forward to those positive impacts that this new payment option is going to have on the TTC and most importantly, the TTC’s customers.”
In addition to adding convenience for customers, the move could help bolster ridership on the transit system, which has been down since the pandemic, resulting in major revenue losses for the city. “While the average weekday boardings stayed at roughly 78 per cent of pre-COVID levels, ridership among less frequent customers — and that's those that ride the TTC four times a week or less — stands at 118 per cent of pre-COVID levels,” Leary said of the latest ridership data. “And that's exciting because what that tells us is ridership looks different, but people are returning to the TTC.