A series of issues with fare readers on OC Transpo buses meant hundreds of thousands of dollars in fares were lost.
Malfunctioning fare readers on OC Transpo buses have cost between $690,000 and $960,000 in lost fare revenue over an 18-month period, according to staff estimates.
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OC Transpo staff said a software upgrade related to Metrolinx, which provides the Presto fare system, and a smart card reader “bug” were to blame for most of the technical difficulties.
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr had lodged an inquiry with the city’s transit services department asking for the number of impacted fare readers and an estimate of the revenue lost between January 2025 and June 2026.
In a response to be tabled at the Sept. 10 transit committee, staff first pointed to the Presto software upgrade, which began in early February and was completed in late March, when “a series of technical problems caused an unprecedented number of fare devices to go out of service.”
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There are about 1,600 electronic fare readers across the fleet of OC Transpo and Para Transpo buses, and staff said 300 of those were reviewed by technicians and had software reinstalled to restore them to full service.
“As of April 2026 all active Presto cards had been migrated to the new account-based Presto system, and the legacy Presto system was decommissioned by Metrolinx,” staff said.
