OPEN LOOP: Passengers in Ontario can now pay for travel using their contactless physical or digital cards
Passengers travelling on public transport services operated by GO Transit, Brampton Transit, MiWay and Oakville Transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area of Ontario in Canada can now make contactless fare payments with a tap of their physical or digital credit card, without needing to buy a Presto transit card or e-ticket.
Ontario transport agency Metrolinx has also announced that, in addition to expanding open loop contacting ticketing to the four transit agencies, it is to officially launch the contactless open loop fare payments system on the United Pearson (UP) Express airport rail link that it began trialling for credit card payments in March 2021 before adding support for debit card payments in October.
“Customers travelling on GO Transit, Brampton Transit, MiWay and Oakville Transit will be able to pay their fare by tapping their credit card on a Presto device using contactless payment options,” Metrolinx explains in a blog post.
“Presto contactless payment allows customers to pay their adult fare on participating transit agencies with just a tap of their credit card, including those cards on your phone or watch.
“After a successful test run this past year on UP Express, more customers will have new and easy ways to pay their adult fare on more transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
“With the successful pilot on UP Express coming to an end, the program has had over 28,500 credit fare payments since March 2021 and over 6,000 debit fare payments since October 2021 made using these contactless payment options.
“UP Express will move from pilot to launch and continue to offer customers the option of paying with both their credit and debit cards.”
Metrolinx expands open loop contactless ticketing in Greater Toronto Area was written by Tom Phillips and published by NFCW.