If you regularly commute on the TTC, you may have come across certain advertisements in recent weeks reminding customers of the transit agency's rollout of debit and credit payments at all subway stations, streetcars, buses and Wheel-Trans vehicles .
In the ad, the TTC reminds its customers that they can now use virtually anything to pay their fare – except bowling balls, of course.
Funny SOON ad.
byu/cindybubbles inTTC
The startling poster recently caught the attention of Paxton Marchiafava, a student studying electrical mechanical engineering at Humber College.
In a new YouTube video titled “I Broke the Rules of Toronto's Transportation System,” Marchiafava decides to take the ad literally and combines his skills to put a Presto card into a bowling ball – and it actually worked.
“I decided to do this because I saw one of the posters on the subway, let my mind wander and finally came up with the idea of doing exactly what the sign says not to do,” Marchiafava said to blogTO.
The video shows the student leaving Humber College and boarding a bus with his Presto card. As he arrives at the Royal York subway station, he notices the poster that says, “Now there are even more new ways to pay with the TTC.”
The second half of the video shows Marchiafava building his bowling ball. This involved 3D printing two halves of a shell, gluing a Presto card to the inside, filling it with concrete, and melting the plastic of both halves together to create the sphere.
After creating his masterpiece, Marchiafava boarded a TTC bus to test out his unique Presto ball. Almost immediately, his hard work was confirmed by the signature “beep” of the payment machine, which surprisingly was able to read the card.
Marchiafava estimates he has probably used the bowling ball “ten times” by now. “I got some pretty strange looks from the drivers. They haven’t said anything, but it’s pretty obvious they’re confused by it,” he told blogTO.
If you've been thinking about recreating Marchiafava's creation, his conclusion at the end of the video might change your mind.
“This thing sucks. A bowling ball is heavy and unnatural to carry around,” he explained. “If this is a recommendation then I fully support it, but if this is a rule then I'm sorry, Toronto law enforcement.”