Presto card rollout on TTC running millions over budget
The cost of installing the Presto fare card system on the TTC has exceeded initial budget estimates, the Star has learned, and the project is still not complete.
Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency in charge of the Presto program, says it doesnt know how much the bill will eventually come to, and is declining to provide an estimate of final costs until an unspecified later date.
As of March 31, however, the agency had spent $276.7 million deploying Presto on the TTC, according to numbers provided by Metrolinx. Thats almost $22 million higher than the agencys 2012 estimate of $255 million.
The $276.6-million figure doesnt reflect work that has yet to be completed or was finished after March 31; those jobs include completing Presto deployment at all subway stations, installing additional self-serve reload machines and fare vending devices across the network, and rolling out fare card readers on all 1,900 TTC buses and 500 Wheel-Trans vehicles.
When the TTC agreed in principle in 2011 to sign up for Presto, the cost of implementing it on Torontos transit network was estimated at between $250 million and $300 million. By the time the deal was signed with Metrolinx one year later, that number had been revised to $255 million.
