Update — Monday, April 1, 2019: Starting Saturday, April 6, the TTC’s portion of the TTC - GO - UP Express co-fare increases by 10 cents to $1.60. The GO / UPX discount remains the same.

Starting this Sunday, January 7, you can save with your PRESTO fare card, when you continue your Metrolinx trip on the TTC — or, in the opposite direction, when you transfer from TTC to GO Transit or UP Express.

(Most readers know that Metrolinx is the parent company of GO and UPX.)

The double-fare discount is available only for PRESTO users who pay as they go with their cards. It’s not available if you use cash, paper tickets, tokens, a Metropass or a monthly pass on your PRESTO card. Adult, post-secondary student and senior passengers are eligible for this discount.

Adults can save $1.50. Students and seniors can save 55 cents. The PRESTO system applies the discount automatically as you travel. All you have to do is tap your card.

Travelling by TTC and GO

From TTC to your final destination on GO Transit:

• Tap your card on the PRESTO device when you board the TTC and the system deducts the full regular fare from the balance on your card.
• When you transfer and tap onto GO, the system discounts your fare by $1.50 if you’re an adult and 55 cents if you’re a student or senior.
• If you don’t have a default GO trip set on your card, be sure to tap off of GO so you’ll get the discount.
• Once you tap on the TTC, you have two hours to begin your GO trip to get the discount.

From GO Transit to your final destination on TTC:

• Tap your card on to GO and the system deducts your fare from your PRESTO card balance.
• When you tap on TTC, you’ll pay just $1.50 whether you’re an adult, student or senior.
• If you don’t have a default GO trip set on your card, be sure to tap off of GO at the end of your trip so you’ll get the discount when you tap on TTC.
• Once you tap on GO, you have three hours to begin your TTC trip to get the discount.

Travelling by TTC and UPX

The program gets more complex when you transfer between TTC and Union Pearson Express.

From TTC to your destination on UP Express (trips to Pearson only):

• Tap your card on the TTC PRESTO device and the system deducts the regular fare from your PRESTO card.
• When you transfer to UPX, be sure to tap on a silver PRESTO device so the system can deduct your your fare.
• When you tap off of UPX, the system discounts your fare by $1.50 if you’re an adult or 55 cents if you’re a student or senior.
• Once you tap on TTC you have two hours to begin your UPX trip to get the discount.

From UP Express Pearson Station to Union Station TTC:

• Tap your card on and off of the silver PRESTO devices and the system deducts the regular fare will be deducted from your PRESTO balance.
• Once you tap on UP, you have one hour to begin your TTC trip to get the discount and pay only $1.50 whether you’re an adult, student or senior.

From TTC to your destination on UP Express (Bloor or Weston only):

• Tap on to TTC and the PRESTO system deducts the regular fare from your card balance.
• When transferring to UPX, you need to use the green PRESTO devices to get the discount, similar to how you need to tap on those devices to get your GO loyalty discount.
• When you tap off UPX with a green PRESTO device, the system will discount your fare by $1.50 if you’re an adult; 55 cents if you’re a student or senior.
• Once you tap on TTC you have two hours to begin your trip on UP to get the discount.

From UP Express (Bloor and Weston) to your destination on TTC:

• When you tap on and off UP, you need to use the green PRESTO devices to get the discount, similar to how you need to tap on those devices to get your GO loyalty discount.
• Once you tap on UP you have one hour to tap on TTC to get the discount and pay only $1.50 whether you’re an adult, student or senior.

(On the PRESTO website, the page describing this program included this paragraph under this section:

• “It may take as much as 24 hours after redeeming the PRESTO Voucher code for the product or credit to be processed. After that time, tap on a PRESTO device within 30 days to complete the transaction.”

(Maybe someone has mistakenly pasted this paragraph from another document, because it seems to make no sense in this context. Perhaps our readers have some insight in what this is supposed to mean.)

Travelling with TTC, GO and other local transit systems that use PRESTO

From local transit to GO to your final destination on TTC:

• Tap on with your card to local transit and the system will deduct the regular fare from your PRESTO balance.
• When you transfer and tap on GO, the system will deduct your fare and apply the appropriate local transit co-fare discount to your PRESTO balance.
• When you tap on the TTC, you’ll get a second discount and only pay $1.50 whether you’re an adult, student or senior.
• If you don’t have a default GO trip set on your card, be sure to tap off of GO so you’ll get the discount when you tap on the TTC.
• Once you tap on GO, you have three hours to begin your TTC trip to get the discount.

From TTC to GO to your destination on local transit:

• Tap on to TTC and the system will deduct regular fare will be deducted from your PRESTO card.
• When you transfer and tap on GO, the system will discount your fare by $1.50 if you’re an adult and 55 cents if you’re a student or senior.
• When you tap on local transit, the system will apply a second co-fare discount to your PRESTO card.
• If you don’t have a default GO trip set on your card, be sure to tap off of GO so you’ll get the discounts.
• Once you tap on TTC, you have two hours to begin your GO trip to get the discount.

In other news, also starting January 7, Metrolinx has announced that Triplinx calculates fares when commuters ask it to help them plan a journey by public transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.