The HSR is taking steps to stop unlicensed retailers from overcharging for bus tickets - but it says another solution is to phase out paper fares altogether.

Complaints arose last year about some businesses charging a markup fee of between 10 and 25 cents per bus ticket. The HSR has about 180 licensed ticket distributors city-wide, but at the moment nothing stops other retailers from buying and reselling those tickets.

A new city report suggests creating a bylaw that specifically outlaws overcharging. The HSR has also started printing the legal price - now $2.15, after a recent fare hike - on each ticket to tip off riders if they're being gouged.

The guaranteed solution - and the HSR's long-term goal - is to phase out tickets entirely in favour of electronically-loaded Presto cards. But the city will "encounter some pushback" if it tries that too soon, said transit director David Dixon.

"I would love to do it now," said Dixon, noting the city pays an extra $500,000 each year to offer both tickets and the electronic card system, which allows seamless travel between local transit and GO buses and trains.

"But you have to be careful, because your customers all have to have the ability to purchase the Presto product. Right now, tickets are still very popular."

While cities like Brampton see closer to 70 per cent of their rides paid via Presto, in Hamilton it is 16 per cent - and that's after a recent pilot project to offer prepaid cards at Fortinos grocery stores across the city.

Jason Nason, Hamilton's unofficial online HSR expert, first drew the city's attention to bus ticket overcharging last year. He's a fan of the proposed bylaw, arguing ticket markups "exploit" residents who can least afford to pay extra.

He suggested axing paper tickets won't be palatable until the city makes the alternative more convenient for transit riders who aren't comfortable using a computer to load money onto a card.

"I was an early adopter - I had a Presto card two years before the city starting using it," he said. "But the trick will be making it accessible to a majority of riders. We're not there yet."

Sharon Djurich agrees.

The 72-year-old switched to Presto from monthly passes and tickets three years ago, but begrudges the need to travel to the downtown GO station to renew her annual seniors' pass.

"When it works, it's great - just tap it and on you go," she said. "By now, though, you'd think there would be more options for where you can go (to reload)."

The city recently decided to extend its experiment with Fortinos stores and is seeking other interested vendors to expand to another 25 locations. But card-loading locations will never be as ubiquitous as ticket-selling corner stores.

That makes phasing out tickets an unlikely proposition for council, said public works chair Sam Merulla.

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"We're not looking to make life more difficult for our most vulnerable residents," he said. "If you can find a way past the accessibility issue, that's great. Otherwise, tickets are still the best option."