Presto card reliability improving, commission told

The head of OC Transpo said the distribution of Presto cards last month has been a success so far, with the cards working in more than 98 per cent of transactions.

OC Transpo head John Manconi said close to 7,000 cards have been activated and more than 110,000 transactions have been completed since the Presto card became available in a limited rollout.

Manconi said while success rates have improved, there are still issues reading the cards with some of the hand-held inspection units.

Manconi and his staff appeared before the city's transit commission as part of a series of promised updates on the introduction of the Presto smart card payment system.

Only half the cards registered

While more than 13,000 Presto cards were distributed beginning in January as part of the partial rollout, fewer than 7,000 cards have been registered. Transit officials, however, said such uptake is expected and considered successful.

The original summer 2012 launch of the electronic smart card was put on hold until February 2013 as Metrolinx, the provincial agency administering the card, and Accenture, the company behind the card, worked to fix glitches.

City officials have set a June 1 deadline for Presto to be fully working. The city has the option to cancel the deal with Metrolinx if its not up and running by then.

Metrolinx will report back April 17 to discuss a "risk-managed deployment plan" for the full program.