The TTC is accelerating the implementation of card readers on its fleet of streetcars, meaning users will be able to pay with Presto cards by the end of the year.

Presto cards are reloadable transit passes that can be used instead of paying cash or tokens. The card system is currently installed on three of Toronto's new streetcars.

The card readers are also available in 14 subway stations across the city, and representatives for the TTC hope to install it in 12 other stations in time for the Pan-American Games in July.

The initial plan was to roll out the readers gradually, putting them only on the new streetcars while phasing out the old vehicles.

On Wednesday morning, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross confirmed to CTV Toronto that the readers will be installed on all cars by the end of 2015.

Ross said the readers will be on all buses by the summer of 2016. All of the subway stations should be equipped by the end of 2016.

"There are still a couple of big hurdles," TTC CEO Andy Byford told reporters on his way into a board meeting on Wednesday.

Byford said Metrolinx, the organization behind Presto, still needs to obtain the equipment and install it in the vehicles.

"We have a big bus fleet -- 2,000 buses, 250 streetcars – but we are working on a program to expedite the project."

The TTC announced its partnership with Metrolinx in November 2012. At the time, then TTC Chair Karen Stintz promised Presto cards would work in all subway stations, buses and streetcars by 2016.

Presto cards are accepted at all GO Transit stations across southern Ontario. They can also be used on transit in Brampton, Burlington, Durham Region, York Region, Hamilton, Mississauga, Hamilton, Oakville and Ottawa.

When asked why it took so long to implement the program in Toronto, Byford said Metrolinx always planned to get to Ontario's biggest city last.

"The TTC was always going to be the most complex. It's the biggest transit (system) by far," he said.

"There's a benefit to going last, in that there were a lot of teething problems up in Ottawa."

The rollout of the payment system in Ottawa was pushed back nearly a year due to widespread technical glitches during the testing stage. Byford said the issues have been "ironed out," and now he hopes to get the readers installed as soon as possible.