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The City of Ottawa is threatening to take the province to court as it seeks to extend the municipality’s Presto agreement while fending off a massive cost increase that could be passed onto transit riders.

The city will have its back to the wall, though.

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That’s because, under another legal agreement with the province, the city needs to use Presto if it wants to receive millions in gas tax funding.

The city initially paid about $34 million to implement the smart card system, which deployed on Transpo buses in 2013.

The city was shocked in February to learn that Metrolinx, the provincial Crown agency responsible for Presto, might not allow a three-year extension of the current deal with Ottawa beyond its Oct. 27, 2016 expiration.

Documents obtained by the Citizen through an access-to-information request reveal Metrolinx was only offering to extend the contract for another year, and only if they could reach an agreement in principle on a new contract by October.