Peggo cards leave some with more questions than answers
Chris Davis: CONTRIBUTOR
Graham Braun, 20, holds his replacement Peggo card that he had to buy after his old one stopped working. THE PROJECTOR/ Chris Davis
Unless you have cash, Winnipeg Transit’s reloadable, electronic Peggo card is the only way to hop on the bus.
As of November, retailers have stopped selling paper tickets and passes, forcing Winnipeggers to buy a Peggo card.
“It’s a little frustrating that they make you pay for the card, and then you have to go register it to get your money back,” said Rob White, 22, a student at Red River College. “I never even heard that they were getting rid of the paper passes completely.”
While the cards work well for some riders, others have faced problems with Peggo.
“It was working fine for about a week, and then it zonked out,” said White. “I went to the Mercantile at school, but they didn’t know what to do so I just called 311.”
Graham Braun, 20, another RRC student, had the same problem. When he called 311, they told him the city was getting a lot of calls about Peggo cards not working. They gave him a reference number and told him to tell the bus driver the card wasn’t working when he got on the bus.
“They have a serious communication problem,” said Braun. “Some of the bus drivers didn’t even believe me when I explained what happened.”
After a week, Braun resolved the issue by purchasing a new Peggo card.
“I went to the transit building on Garry Street and they told me I should just buy a new card,” said Braun. “It was their fault, and I had to run around to get it fixed.”
The Ox tweeted Nov. 4 about students coming into the store regarding “card clash.” Matthew Meijer, the students’ association operations director, said as of Nov. 9, four students went to RRC’s convenience stores about bad cards.
Winnipeg Transit recommends keeping your Peggo card away from your debit and credit cards to avoid card clash. Wireless signals from other chip cards can interfere with each other, transit’s website explains.
When asked, the city didn’t know about it.
“We are not aware of this being an issue,” said Alyssa Clark, a communications officer for the city.
Whether the cards are working or not, some students feel transit needs a more efficient way to resolve issues with Peggo.
“They shouldn’t make it such a hassle,” said Braun. “Make sure everyone knows what’s going on with the cards.”
Although paper passes and tickets are no longer available to buy, for now you can still use any leftover bus tickets you have.
