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thursDay, JANUARY 10, 2013
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Inside NEWS
An early-morning blaze at a building near Smyth Road briefly shuts down Alta Vista Drive. – Page 3
CITY HALL NEWS
COMMUNITY NEWS
Eddie Rwema/Metroland
Winter pick-up The ice has taken shape and outdoor skating has begun at the Alta Vista Park. Neighbourhood kids like Justin Jarmo, left, and Eric Toms enjoy skating as they discover the joys of winter. The rink is maintained by local residents for the neighbourhood to enjoy.
More Presto cards available for riders Jan. 18 OC Transpo seeks ‘frequent riders’ for 10,000 smart-card rollout
Former Bay Ward councillor Alex Cullen will seek the provincial NDP nomination for Ottawa Centre. – Page 15
Laura Mueller
laura.mueller@metroland.com
EMC news - OC Transpo is hoping to tap frequent riders to help get the bugs out of its smart-card payment system. The new Presto cards will be available for free at OC
Transpo sales centres between Jan. 18 and Feb. 1. There are already 2,000 people using the cards as part of a “friends and family” test program and OC Transpo is hoping up to 10,000 more people join them when the new cards begin to work on Feb. 1. The cards are being released to a larger number of transit users to test the beleaguered system when it’s under heavier use. The Presto system is used by some transit agencies in southern Ontario, but Ottawa was set to be the first city to
use a new generation of the technology last summer. A full, 200,000-card rollout was scheduled for June, but the city and provincial agency responsible for the system, Metrolinx, pulled the plug at the last minute due to technical issues. Glitches, such as red screens indicating rejected payments, continued to plague the system through the summer, forcing Metrolinx and the city to extend the “friends and family” test period through the winter. Presto is supposed to usher
in a new era of how users pay to ride the bus. For one thing, the passes are transferable, meaning you, a spouse, a child, a friend, a roommate or anyone, really, could share a card – as long as you don’t ride at the same time. The cards can be topped up online or at a service centre. Manager of business and operational services, David Pepper, said OC Transpo is hoping at least half of the new Presto-card holders use the cards regularly. That lowball number is
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enough to give OC Transpo the kind of critical mass it needs to put the system to the test. In addition, now that the Toronto Transit Commission has signed on to implement Presto for the TTC by 2016, all eyes will be watching Ottawa to see how it fares. Last month, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 boss Craig Watson said that all 1,600 OC Transpo operators were set to be retrained on how to use the Presto system in January in advance of the deluge of new users expected in February. R0011723363
The Glebe Neighbourhood Activities Group gets ready to host its annual food tasting affair. – Page 5