My TTC Customer Service Experience of the day
I just returned from over two weeks of vacation, which was grand, but now I'm having a confusing time finding out the best way to commute for the rest of the month.
See, I usually buy a monthly TTC metropass ($121) at Union each month, with a credit card that then gives me 2% back in cash. But, I commute on the 144, which requires an express sticker, which is only sold at St. Patrick and King subway stations. The TTC won't accept credit cards at those two stations, so I have to pay cash for the sticker ($35.50).
Because of the 2% back from my credit card, and 15% back on taxes, that $121/mo comes out to $1,209.52/yr. But, because I can't get either the 2% or the 15% back on the express sticker because they're not sold at Union, and the TTC hasn't labelled them to comply with the Federal Tax Credit requirements, I get nothing back of the $426/yr, and my total spend is $1,635.52/yr. If you're following along, that's $136.30/mo, which isn't a bad deal at all.
Sure, I could save a bit more money with the Metropass Discount Plan, but then I'd violate the policy of not letting any organization directly debit from my bank account. I've dealt with far too many incorrect debits to waiver on this policy. I'd happily pre-pay a full year with cash, interac or mastercard before compromising on this policy. Anyhow.
Because I was out of the province, I just figured I'd buy my October pass today, my first day back at work. Even at full price (that $136.30), it'd be only marginally more expensive than using tokens (12 work days x 2 tokens x 2 directions == $120), and, hey, unlimited additional travel for $16.30!
But, no, you can't buy an express sticker _anywhere_ anymore after the 4th business day of the month -- how dumb is that?
So, even if I bought the $101.20 monthly metropass and used tokens for the express additional fare, that would come to $161.20 for the month. Half a month of travel is more expensive than a full month of travel! Insanity!
So, how about I use tokens-only for the 14th and 31st, then use weekly passes for the two full weeks? That's ($2.50 x 4 x 2) + ($36 x 2) + ($2.50 x 4 x 10) = $172! Even if I could show TWO weekly passes to cover the express fare over the two weeks, that would still keep the price above the usual monthly spend: ($2.50 x 4 x 2) + ($36 x 4) = $164.
How much to drive for the rest of the month? $9/day parking from Green P on Esplanade, 12 business days, $108. Sure, I'm not including amortization of the car, gas, insurance. . . . but that stuff wouldn't margin to be more than $60 over what I already spend on the car.
So, driving to work for two weeks is notably cheaper than using the TTC for two weeks, and the TTC will only be the Better Way for me again after Hallowe'en.
Hopefully, when the TTC rolls out Presto, they program it to simply deduct $2.50/ride (double for express) and stop charging at $10/day (day pass rate), $36/wk (Weekly pass rate), $121/mo (Monthly pass rate).
With smart cards, there should no longer be a need to predict your monthly travel, it should just charge the cheapest rate based on what you use. . . . unless the TTC approaches presto wrong.
There's a bright light, though --
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124541125578076160
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124541575408795648
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124545493278785536
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124545664641273857
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124595257328402432
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124601127177162752
See, I usually buy a monthly TTC metropass ($121) at Union each month, with a credit card that then gives me 2% back in cash. But, I commute on the 144, which requires an express sticker, which is only sold at St. Patrick and King subway stations. The TTC won't accept credit cards at those two stations, so I have to pay cash for the sticker ($35.50).
Because of the 2% back from my credit card, and 15% back on taxes, that $121/mo comes out to $1,209.52/yr. But, because I can't get either the 2% or the 15% back on the express sticker because they're not sold at Union, and the TTC hasn't labelled them to comply with the Federal Tax Credit requirements, I get nothing back of the $426/yr, and my total spend is $1,635.52/yr. If you're following along, that's $136.30/mo, which isn't a bad deal at all.
Sure, I could save a bit more money with the Metropass Discount Plan, but then I'd violate the policy of not letting any organization directly debit from my bank account. I've dealt with far too many incorrect debits to waiver on this policy. I'd happily pre-pay a full year with cash, interac or mastercard before compromising on this policy. Anyhow.
Because I was out of the province, I just figured I'd buy my October pass today, my first day back at work. Even at full price (that $136.30), it'd be only marginally more expensive than using tokens (12 work days x 2 tokens x 2 directions == $120), and, hey, unlimited additional travel for $16.30!
But, no, you can't buy an express sticker _anywhere_ anymore after the 4th business day of the month -- how dumb is that?
So, even if I bought the $101.20 monthly metropass and used tokens for the express additional fare, that would come to $161.20 for the month. Half a month of travel is more expensive than a full month of travel! Insanity!
So, how about I use tokens-only for the 14th and 31st, then use weekly passes for the two full weeks? That's ($2.50 x 4 x 2) + ($36 x 2) + ($2.50 x 4 x 10) = $172! Even if I could show TWO weekly passes to cover the express fare over the two weeks, that would still keep the price above the usual monthly spend: ($2.50 x 4 x 2) + ($36 x 4) = $164.
How much to drive for the rest of the month? $9/day parking from Green P on Esplanade, 12 business days, $108. Sure, I'm not including amortization of the car, gas, insurance. . . . but that stuff wouldn't margin to be more than $60 over what I already spend on the car.
So, driving to work for two weeks is notably cheaper than using the TTC for two weeks, and the TTC will only be the Better Way for me again after Hallowe'en.
Hopefully, when the TTC rolls out Presto, they program it to simply deduct $2.50/ride (double for express) and stop charging at $10/day (day pass rate), $36/wk (Weekly pass rate), $121/mo (Monthly pass rate).
With smart cards, there should no longer be a need to predict your monthly travel, it should just charge the cheapest rate based on what you use. . . . unless the TTC approaches presto wrong.
There's a bright light, though --
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124541125578076160
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124541575408795648
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124545493278785536
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124545664641273857
http://twitter.com/#!/www_ora_tion_ca/status/124595257328402432
http://twitter.com/#!/TTCchris/status/124601127177162752