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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

This Crazy Train's Presto Chronicles, Chapter 32 (for real dawg): You've got some 'ciphering to do! Check the math!

Special to ThisCrazyTrain.com
by A.L. Gorithm

After I acquired my PRESTO card in 2012, I undertook to learn as much about this new-fangled technology as I could before 2/10-trip and monthly passes were phased out.  I understood the basic fare pricing scheme, but the nebulous sentences (underlined below) in section What are GO Transit fares with PRESTO? of Web page GO with PRESTO had me baffled:

·         Under Adult fares ...

If you do not take the exact same trip each time you travel on GO within a calendar month, your first 35 rides on GO will be 10%** off the single adult GO fare paper ticket. For rides 36 and onwards, your discount will be based on the value of the rides you’ve taken that month.

·         Under Student fares ...

If you do not take the exact same trip each time you travel on GO within a calendar month, your first 30 rides on GO will be 17.25%** off the single adult GO fare paper ticket. For rides 31 and onwards, your discount will be based on the value of the rides you’ve taken that calendar month.

The Customer Relations CSR who responded to my query wrote “if you have a PRESTO fare card and travel throughout our system on different train/bus routes throughout the month, then the discount for rides 36 or over will be based on the average per trip cost of the adult rides you have taken from ride 1-35.”

That explanation didn’t sound quite right, so I phoned for answers to follow-up questions for specific scenarios I had.  My call was transferred very quickly to a supervisor – with a rather condescending demeanor – who stated emphatically that the PRESTO discount is not based on the average cost per trip for the first 35 rides in a month.  In his words, “It’s much more complicated than that.”  After peppering him with my questions and not receiving satisfactory responses, he committed to providing me with a detailed explanation and examples of how this aspect of PRESTO works.  And that was the last I heard from him.

Even though I use PRESTO for a variety of trips on GO Transit, there are never more than 35 trips in a month.  Consequently, I didn’t lose any sleep over this supervisor’s failed follow-up.  After three years of waiting, I asked the original CSR what happened to the answers that were promised.

My query was forwarded to Ms. C.M., Supervisor, Customer Relations, who promptly provided the following response:

Subject: GO Transit, A Division of Metrolinx EM0018001456
Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 17:02:08 -0400
From: GO Transit Customer Relations
To: Me

Dear Mr. G,

Thank you for your patience while I’ve looked into this further for you.

I’m happy to provide you with details regarding the calculation that we use to determine how much passengers should pay for their loyalty trips if they do not take the same trip within the calendar month. A detailed breakdown regarding this formula is below:

The loyalty discount consists of two parts, a base discount and a step discount. The base discount is a percentage discount on the single ride fare of the trip.  The current base discount rate is 10% for an adult.

The step discount is calculated based on the accumulated single ride fare and accumulated step discount received at the end of previous step.  The current steps end at 35th ride, 40th ride and 70th ride.  The step discount rate is 11.13%, 77.32% and 82.8%.

For example, a customer’s travel pattern is as follows:
-       1st to 30th ride between Union and Oakville (Single fare before discount: $8.15)
-       31st to 38th ride between Union and Burlington (Single fare before discount: $10.30)
-       39th to 44th ride between Union and Oakville (Single fare before discount: $8.15)
-       45st to 50th ride between Union and Burlington (Single fare before discount: $10.30)

 PRESTO fare calculation:

Step discount for 1st to 35th ride = $0.00 (Initial Step)

Fare deducted for 1st to 30th ride:
o    Base discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o    Step discount = $0.00
o    Total discount =$0.81 + $0.00 = $0.81
o    Fare deducted = $8.15 - $0.81 = $7.34

Fare deducted for 31st to 35th ride:
o    Base discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o    Step discount = $0.00
o    Total discount = $1.03 + $0.00 = $1.03
o    Fare deducted = $10.30 - $1.03 = $9.27

Step discount for 36th to 40th ride
o    Accumulated single ride fare = $8.15 x 30 + $10.3 x 5 = $296.00
o    Accumulated step discount received  = $0.00
o    Number of rides to next step = 40 – 35 = 5
o    Step 1 discount rate = 11.13%
o    Step discount = ($296 x 11.13% - $0.00)/5 = $6.68

Fare deducted for 36th to 38th ride
o    Base discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o    Step discount = $6.68
o    Total discount = $1.03 + $6.68 = $7.71
o    Fare deducted = $10.3 - $7.71 = $2.59 (75% off)

Fare deducted for 39th to 40th ride
o    Base discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o    Step discount = $6.68
o    Total discount = $0.81 + $6.68 = $7.49
o    Fare deducted = $8.15 - $7.49 = $0.66 (92% off)

Step discount for 41st to 70th ride
o    Accumulated single ride fare = $296.00 + $10.30 x 3 + $8.15 x 2 = $343.20
o    Accumulated step discount received  = $6.68 x 5 = $33.40
o    Number of rides to next step = 70 – 40 = 30
o    Step 1 discount rate = 77.32%
o    Step discount = ($343.20 x 77.32% - $33.40)/30 = $7.73

Fare deducted for 41st to 44th ride
o    Base discount = $8.15 x 10% = $0.81
o    Step discount = $7.73
o    Total discount = $0.81 + $7.73 = $8.54
o    Fare deducted = $8.15 - $0.81 - $7.73 = $0.00 (total discount cannot exceed single ride fare, 100% off)

Fare deducted for 45th to 50th ride
o    Base discount = $10.30 x 10% = $1.03
o    Step discount = $7.73
o    Total discount = $1.03 + $7.73 = $8.76
o    Fare deducted = $10.30 - $1.03 - $7.73 = $1.54 (85% off)

Please don’t hesitate to contact me again if you have any additional questions.

Thank you for letting me assist you with this matter.

Sincerely,

C.M.
Supervisor, Customer Relations, GO Transit

Cc.       Greg Percy, President, GO Transit


I thanked Ms. M. for clarifying this calculation for me.  Her efforts are most appreciated.

So, there you have it.  Did everyone get that?  Good!  

Your homework assignment is a forensic accounting exercise – pour over your monthly PRESTO transaction logs and ensure the correct fares were charged to your ePurse.  

Have fun!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who the eff wrote this piece of garbage software???

Anonymous said...

I am SO confused!

George said...

Accenture wrote and maintains this so-called software.

Good job Libs for foisting this on us rather than a company with experience in fare cards.

TomW said...

Simpler version should be as follows:
1) Imagine you'd paid full-fare for all your trips. Find the total
2) Divide this total by the full fare you are about to take. Call this 'magic number'
3) Actual discount would be as follows:
* Magic number = 1-35: 10%
* Magic number = 36-40: 90%
* Magic number = 41+: 100%

.... but sadly, it isn't. :-(