Presto on Para Transpo

Presto on Para Transpo will start in December 2020. If you provide us with your Presto card number and give us permission to review the card, we’ll check your Presto card every month to see if you have purchased / loaded a monthly pass on the card. If a monthly pass has been purchased / loaded on the card, when you board the Para Transpo vehicle, the operator / taxi driver will see ’No Fare to Collect’ and just needs to see the Presto card to confirm that the card number matches the last 11 digits of the registered card which will show on their display screen.

It means you no longer have to show your receipt from your pass, and the operator / taxi driver doesn’t have to write out a receipt for you. But you still do need to show the operator / taxi driver your card.

You can call 613-560-5000 (TTY users can call 711 or use their provider’s relay service).

We’ll be doing testing with a small select group starting on December 1, 2020. The program will be available to all customers on December 15, so you can start providing your Presto card number on that date.

It will work for all passes that count as full fare on Para Transpo. A reminder that the Access Pass only counts as 1/3 of the fare and requires a cash top up.

And also just a reminder that a monthly pass does not apply towards a rural fare.

It’s an automatic process that’s done daily. So it normally will check overnight, every night, once you have provided your Presto card to us.

However, keep in mind if you load your pass late in the day, or if Presto is slow in processing it, it may be after the system’s already checked, so it may only pick up the next night.

Yes, the system will keep checking every night up until the 14^th of the month, after which passes are no longer available.

It depends on when you loaded your pass. For example, if you loaded your pass on the 2^nd day of the month, but you took trips on the 1^st day of the month, you would not get any credits / refunds for the 1^st, because you didn’t have a monthly pass on that day.

If you feel you are owed a refund, please contact 613-560-5000 to submit a request, which will be researched.

If you don’t have a monthly pass loaded this month, and if you have a ParaPurse funds balance, it will automatically take the payment from your ParaPurse. If you don’t have any funds in your account, the system will tell the operator / taxi driver that they need to collect a fare from you when you board.

No, we’ll keep your Presto card number on file, and check it every month. If you have a monthly pass that month, we’ll update ParaPay. If you don’t have a monthly pass, you’ll have to pay normally, but we’ll still check again for the next month.

You will need to call us ASAP to change the Presto card number on your file. Make sure you follow the usual transfer process to transfer your pass and registration (and any funds) to the new card (remember to not register the new card, or you can’t transfer). See https://www.octranspo.com/en/fares/payment/presto for information on replacing a card.

Otherwise, we’ll still be checking the old card, and your pass won’t show.

If ever you change your mind, you can always call us, and we’ll remove your Presto card number from our list. It will only take effect for the next pass month.

No, you can provide only your own monthly pass. If your companion is also a Para Transpo customer, we suggest you each set up a booking in your own names, rather than listing the second person as a companion.

If your companion is not a Para Transpo customer, but has a Presto card with a monthly pass, they will need to show their card and receipt of monthly pass purchase when they board, and like we did previously, the operator / taxi driver will fill out a Fare Receipt / Invoice.

We will check for your regular bookings, and flag the system to apply the pass when it is loaded to any bookings within the month for which you have a pass.

The new pass should show in the system. If it doesn’t, a Fare Receipt / Invoice will still be filled out by the operator / driver, and when we get it, we’ll double check again and make sure it’s entered into the system. If you ever run into an issue, just give us a call at 613-560-5000, and we can check on it.

Yes, we do have the number on file, but we have to ensure that only one person is using the monthly pass at a time. As such, the card must be physically present to travel, and must be shown to the operator to make sure it matches the card number we have on file that we have confirmed has a monthly pass.

Yes, but the operator / taxi driver will have to fill in the Fare Receipt / Invoice if you have not provided your Presto card number to OC Transpo. In other words, it’ll be the same process as we previously had.

Yes, you do. Presto is a separate company – registering your card with them is your protection if your card is damaged or lost. But Presto doesn’t provide us with information on registered cards. You still have to call OC Transpo and provide us with your card number.

No, unfortunately, we have no way to remove the funds from the card at this time. Phase 2 of the Presto on Para project will look at how we can allow customers to tap their Presto card with a monthly pass or to use funds.

There are a lot of changes going on in our fare systems right now, including updating our bus and train fare card readers and the development of an open payment system. Unfortunately, however, those card readers work off different bus display systems, so they’re not compatible with Para Transpo vehicles. Plus our taxi fleet is separate from the bus fleet.

OC Transpo is working with our suppliers on new technology that could be used in both the Para Transpo buses and the contracted taxi vehicles. We are waiting for feedback on the new products before we can develop a plan on how we can roll out Phase 2. We will be reviewing our options in early 2021 and will be building a plan from there. More information will be provided to Council when we have updates available.