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Toronto transit conundrum: cash, tokens, PRESTO, or pass?

August 9th, 2017  |  Travel

When it comes to navigating transit payment options in Toronto, there are always two factors at play: cost-effectiveness and convenience.

The first is self-explanatory. Economies are based around the principle that people want things for as little as they can possibly pay for them. Of course they'll hunt for bargains and look to cut costs across the board.

But under the right circumstances, the desire for cost-effectiveness can be superseded by the luxury of convenience. For example, paying with tokens or replenishing a PRESTO card can turn into enough of a hassle that it incentivizes infrequent Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) riders to invest in a pass that grants them unlimited rides for a certain block of time.

To save you the trouble of conducting that investigation on your own, HUB Insurance Hunter has taken the liberty of scoping out the relevant information and weighing the pros and cons of all the options for you! Let's begin.

 

Adult

Senior (65+)/Student (13-19)

Cash single fare purchase

$3.25

$2.10

Tickets & tokens

$3.00 (min. 3 tokens for $9)

$2.05 (min. 5 tickets for $10.25)

PRESTO

$3 ($6 card fee, at least $10 on initial load up)

$2.05

Day Pass

$12.50

$12.50

Weekly Pass

$43.75

$34.75

Monthly Metropass

$146.25

$116.75

Metropass Discount Plan (MDP)

$134 (requires 12 month subscription)

$107 (requires 12 month subscription)

Downtown Express (in addition to regular fare)

$3.25 or token/PRESTO swipe, or $43 Monthly Express Sticker

$2.05 or Senior/Student ticket, or $43 Monthly Express Sticker

 

The table you just viewed is a recreation of the one on the TTC's website. It lists every single payment option that adult, student, and senior riders have. Now that you've seen that, it's time to show you when exactly each one would make sense to purchase.

When a cash single fare purchase makes sense

This is what you opt for when you don't have a PRESTO card and know for a fact that you'll be making only one or two TTC trips at most. Even though tickets, tokens, and PRESTO fares are all cheaper than cash singe fares, they require bundling and ancillary costs that eradicate any savings for a one- or two-time rider.

Sometimes paying with cash is simply unavoidable (i.e. you're in a rush to get somewhere and you realize you left your alternate payment methods behind). But even if it happens, you can at least take solace in the fact that it only costs you 25 cents extra.

When tickets and tokens or PRESTO make sense

Remember earlier when the interplay between cost-effectiveness and convenience were discussed? That's worth bringing up in this debate between tickets/tokens and PRESTO, two payment methods that essentially cost the same amount, but have some slight differences.

As you can see, both options cost $3 apiece. But each one also has accompanying purchase rules that factor into their prices. With a $6 card fee and an initial $10 load up benchmark, PRESTO would certainly be the less advisable option for someone taking a relatively small amount of trips (i.e. a tourist).

However, the convenience of having a PRESTO card is enough of a draw for consistent riders that it offsets the sunk cost of $6. The card is much easier to carry and keep track of than tokens/tickets, and being able to reload electronically is a huge bonus as well. So for anyone living in Toronto or even someone who just plans on visiting a reasonable amount, PRESTO is the way to go.

When a day pass makes sense

Day passes are for those who require a a lot of TTC use over the course of a day, but not necessarily any after that—or at least not immediately after. If a rider is planning to take more than four trips during that day, then the day pass instantly becomes the most cost-effective option. Tourists would be a good fit for this sort of pass as well, depending on their plans for the day. So would Toronto residents who don't usually take the TTC or wouldn't take it enough afterwards to justify a weekly or monthly pass.

When a weekly pass makes sense

Like the day pass, a weekly pass makes sense when the rider will be getting a heightened amount of use out of it during the parameters of its validity (in this case, a week). But remember, it's not the overall number of trips you take that will determine whether or not this is something worth getting; rather, it's the number of days for which you will need it. If you know you'll be taking the TTC many times on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, but not any of the other days, then it'd actually be cheaper for you to buy three day passes. Once that fourth day comes into play though, that's when you should opt for the weekly pass.

When a monthly Metropass makes sense

This is the option of choice for most commuters and frequent TTC riders. When you do the math, the price of a Metropass is more cost-effective than PRESTO or tokens for anyone who takes 49 or more trips over the course of a month. That said, the logic from the previous subsection still holds here: if you only need transit access for three weeks of the month, then go with three weekly passes instead.

When a Metropass Discount Plan (MDP) makes sense

Are you prepared to buy in bulk? If so, then an MDP is the option for you! It covers 12 months' worth of monthly passes, so it will benefit someone who is continuously taking the TTC year-round, and not taking any extended vacations or working at home for long stretches. From a convenience perspective, it gives you the added bonus of not having to buy a fresh pass at the start of the month—it gets mailed right to your house!

When a Downtown Express pass makes sense

The TTC has five special Downtown Express routes that accelerate the commute into the city's core for riders. They travel along Mt. Pleasant, Avenue, the Beach, the Don Valley, and Humber Bay. Because a single Downtown Express ride will cost you an entire extra single fare, it's not cheap to get into the habit of taking single Express rides. It becomes a lot more cost-effective if you get the monthly pass and take one of the routes twice a day every work day. Still, it's important to evaluate how much you value the convenience of a slightly faster route, and whether it's worth an extra $43 per month.

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