politics
Duly Quoted: Andy Byford, on Implementing Presto Ahead of Schedule
The smart-card system will be hitting all streetcars—even the old ones—by the end of 2015.
“We will go hell for leather to have it all implemented, fully implemented, by the end of 2016, not 2017. That means every bus, every streetcar. Maybe not every door on every streetcar but every streetcar, including the old streetcars, we are going to fit with Presto.”
—TTC CEO Andy Byford, outlining plans to roll out the Presto system a good year ahead of schedule—it’ll be installed in all streetcars this year, and in buses and remaining TTC stations by the end of 2016.
The TTC had initially intended to introduce the system only on its new streetcars, avoiding the cost of Presto-readying its aging streetcar fleet. It’s possible the delayed arrival of the bulk of those vehicles has contributed to the change in plans: the TTC expected to have 43 new streetcars by now, but thanks to production issues at Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant, only three have arrived.