TTC CEO Andy Byford wants to move up the full launch of the electronic Presto card by a year.

The provincial electronic fare card isn't scheduled to be fully installed on all TTC buses, streetcars and subways until 2017. But Byford said he's pushing his staff and Metrolinx to get it done in 2016. The only caveat, he said, is that it must be reliable.

"If the product doesn't work, it will be the TTC that is blamed by the general public," he said.

Until then, TTC riders will at least finally be able to buy most passes and quantities of 10 or more tickets and tokens with a debit or credit card at all 69 TTC stations starting Jan. 1.

By next summer, they will also be able to use pay-and-wave technology, which is already widely available in coffee shops, for single fares at collectors' booths, Byford promised.

It's a long-overdue development, said Mayor John Tory, who made the announcement at the recently modernized Victoria Park Station on Tuesday. "In a global city like Toronto, the idea that most transactions would have to take place by cash is something that is almost prehistoric," he said.

"This city is two generations behind other cities and even the private sector in terms of using technology to make people's lives easier and more convenient," Tory added.

The TTC isn't allowing smaller purchases on debit and credit in order to avoid long lines at collector booths. But TTC chair Josh Colle said that, in his observation, buying single tokens with cash can be a slow business, too.

Reducing cash in the system, however, is a safety feature, he said. In February 2012, a TTC collector was shot in the neck during a robbery at Dupont Station.

The cost of equipment and software for debit and credit transactions is $1.5 million over five years. The TTC will also have to pay 8 cents on each debit transaction and 2 per cent per credit purchase. It's not known how much that will cost when debit and credit goes systemwide, but the TTC sells between 100,000 and 120,000 passes at collectors booths each month. There is no suggestion the transaction fees will be passed on to riders.

Byford pointed out that collecting cash also comes at a cost. "Ultimately, what we really want to be doing is get rid of tokens, get rid of transfers, get rid of tickets and move to Presto as soon as we can," he said.

The TTC was always planned as the last Toronto region transit system to roll out Presto. It's a particularly complex launch because of the TTC's various modes, including about 2,000 buses, said Byford.

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The TTC will get a newer version of Presto that will permit riders to use their credit and debit cards and enabled devices, he added, though he acknowledged that feature may not be available immediately when Presto does finally roll out on the TTC.

Presto can already be used at 15 subway stations and on the three new low-floor streetcars running on the 510 Spadina route.

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