Peggo a no go

Winnipeg’s new peggo cards will create more fare options for transit users, Winnipeg Transit’s Jonathan Borland said, though Red River College students can’t use the cards for another month. Information supervisor Borland said Winnipeg Transit is giving post-secondary institutions reloadable peggo cards in phases.

The Ox at Notre Dame Campus and the Mercantile at the Exchange District Campus should have peggo cards for use in October, he said. Post-secondary students must purchase the cards where they go to school.

For September, RRC students can buy monthly post-secondary paper passes for $70.85 each or full-fare tickets for $2.30 each.

“If you were a post-secondary student last year, every month you would have lined up to get your post-secondary pass at Red River College,” Borland said. “Now once you have your peggo card, you can load fares online or in person at any of the retail sales agents.”

Retail sales agents include RRC’s convenience stores, 7-Eleven and Shoppers Drug Mart, as listed on Winnipeg Transit’s website. Transit users can also load their cards at efare.winnipegtransit.com or by calling 311.

Transit users can load their cards with e-cash or e-passes.

E-cash works the same as cash — money is deducted each trip, and you can use a transfer within 75 minutes of your first ride by tapping your card on the next bus.

Like paper tickets, bus fare using e-cash is 35 cents cheaper than paying with cash on the bus ($2.30 versus $2.65).

The other option is to load an e-pass. Riders can use their e-passes an unlimited number of times while valid.
Once available, post-secondary students can load a monthly e-pass onto their card that is active from the first of the month to the last day of the month, like the current paper passes.

There is also a 28-day pass. These, along with other e-passes, have a “rolling start,” becoming active on the day you use your card, allowing for more customization than the former paper passes, Borland said.

One of the biggest challenges riders have with peggo cards is how to use them, Borland said. You have to hold it in front of the fare box until it beeps, not just quickly wave it, like some people do.

Another challenge, Borland said, is some people don’t realize when their card is ready for use after loading online, which takes up to 48 hours to activate. Accounts will say “pending” until the rider uses the card.

“It’s just something people are getting used to, because for one hundred and something years, we basically had a fare box that you just dropped coins into and went on your way,” Borland said.

Peggo cards cost $5, but Winnipeg Transit is refunding this once you use your card. This rebate will continue during the launch phase, which will go into the fall when Winnipeg Transit will decide when to cancel all paper products, Borland said.

Though paper tickets and passes are being phased out, that’s not the case for cash, since Borland said some people in Winnipeg are casual transit users.