Winnipeg Transit's Peggo smart cards on sale for all riders

• Winnipeg Transit 'Peggo' smart cards finally ready

White full-farePeggocards and green senior and youth cards are on sale at Winnipeg 7-Eleven and Shoppers Drug Mart locations,18 other stores in neighbourhoods without those franchises and City of Winnipeg outlets. Cards are also on sale online atWinnipegTransit.comor by calling 311.

Thecontactlesscards can be preloaded at these stores as well as online.

Winnipeg Transit's information supervisor, JonathonBorland, saysthe cards are the new way to pay.

"It works much like a bank card would," hetoldCBC'sRadio Noon program.

One perk with the new cards is that riders will no longer have to ask drivers for a paper transfer it's builtdirectly into thePeggocards.

"It will be automatically on your card and you'll be able to transfer to as many buses as you want within 75 minutes," Borland said.

There are two types of fares thatcan be loaded ontoPeggocards. E-passes replace paper passes and can be used for an unlimited number of trips for intervals from 24 hours to one year.

E-cash fares replace paper tickets. Riders can load a maximum of $200 on toPeggocards; fares are deducted as the cards are tapped on thefarebox.

Riders can still pay cash for fares and use bus tickets, butBorland said in the fall, the city will make an announcement with a date of when it'll stop accepting paper buspasses.

"We're sort of playing it by ear right now," he said.

During therolloutperiod, the city is waiving the $5 charge forPeggocards, provided users register it and use it within 90 days of buying it.