City saves costly paper bus tickets

Hamilton will continue offering both paper bus tickets and tap-card pay options to HSR riders for now — even if it eventually costs the city a lot more.

Ontario transit agency Metrolinx wants all cities who use the fare cards for local transit to sign 10-year contracts that will hike municipal usage costs and eventually require minimum PRESTO adoption rates and revenue generation. The city would lose $11-million-plus in gas tax grants if it abandoned PRESTO.

HSR managers recommended phasing out paper tickets — prompting an outcry by anti-poverty advocates and HSR riders who prefer to avoid the sometimes bug prone auto pay card system.

Council ultimately supported a motion by Coun. Sam Merulla Wednesday to maintain both PRESTO and paper bus tickets for now, despite the potential to cost the city an extra $900,000 on top of an eventual annual PRESTO bill a decade later of almost $4 million. Cash fares also remain available. Killing paper tickets may be inevitable someday, Merulla said, but doing it now without an alternative “is going to hurt a lot of people.”

He reiterated his concern about the impact on the working poor and homeless, noting it costs $6 to buy a PRESTO card and a minimum balance is required. He said Metrolinx promised to one day offer a PRESTO-endorsed paper alternative.

Metrolinx spokesperson Ann Marie Aikins previously said the new contract doesn’t require PRESTO-using cities to abandon paper tickets, despite the HSR opinion it this would be the only way to meet contractual usage thresholds. She also noted limited-use, “throwaway” PRESTO fare options will be available to Hamilton in future, after needed equipment upgrades.

Council ultimately voted to hold on to paper tickets for at least a year. The HSR will report back on options again at that time.

Other councillors noted the cost of using PRESTO over the contract — an increase to almost $4 million from the current annual cost of $425,000 — is hard to swallow given past complaints about tap-card system bugs and privacy concerns.

Others were uneasy about an enforced exclusivity deal for PRESTO card-loading stations with Loblaws-owned stores like Shoppers.

“Metrolinx hasn’t delivered,” said Coun. Terry Whitehead.

But Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the PRESTO system will gradually provide more efficient, easier transit fare options. He said the province has promised to double the city’s gas tax allocation to $21 million in time, money that can be used to offset growing PRESTO costs.

Council endorsed the new 10year contract to use PRESTO.