Transit union urges Winnipeg to part with Peggo cards

The head of Winnipeg's transit union is calling on the city to let go of its Peggocards because of problems with the electronic fare-collection system.

AleemChaudhary, acting president of theAmalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, says Peggo cards have been nothing but "a pain" since they went online in June 2016.

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"Ipersonally think it failed,because they spent millions and millions on technology that I particularly don't think worked,"AleemChaudharysaid Tuesday in an interview.

"Thissystem that they bought, the fare boxes and the readers and all that, they've been a headache eversince day one. It's costing the city millions."

'Not sure why they would be saying that'

Winnipeg Transit officials were taken back by the union's desire to get rid of Peggo cards.

"I'm not sure why they would be saying that. They haven't approached us with a conversation about that," said Greg Ewankiw, Winnipeg Transit's acting director. "I don't know how they're quantifying that information."

Winnipeg Transit officials also said they've fixed aglitch that preventedPeggocredits that were purchased online from getting transferred to the cards themselves.

"When you purchase something online, that product that you've bought that pass or that cash has not yet actually made its way to yourcard," explainedsaid KirkCumming, Winnipeg Transit's information-systems manager.

"Whathappens is that all your purchases are transferred to buses overnight in the garage, so that the next time you get on abus, that product is actually transferred to your card. It's that process that has experienced a problem."

From June through August, 311 received a total ofabout 1,400 complaintsabout Peggocards, Cummingsaid.There were approximately 66,000 Peggo cards in service at the time, tapped on electronic card readers about five million times, he added.

He said now that the glitch has been fixed, the city is resolving complaints on a case-by-case basis, either by adding cash to cards automatically or letting customers know compensation is on the way.

University of Manitoba employee Michael Tyasis among thePeggo users expecting compensation. He said Winnipeg Transitagreed to give himan $80 Peggorebate after the fare-collection system failed to credit him for a series of online credit purchases.

"I kept finding myself getting stranded, far away from home, without any change, just with my Peggo card that I knew I had put money on," Tyas said in a telephone interview.

"Technology is always going to have issues, and this is something no one expected to happen," he said. "But on the other hand, I just find this so antiquated right from the get go. There areno self service kiosks, it takes so long for the money to get on your card if you do it online.

"It makes me wonder why they chose this system in the first place it's so inferior."

Some bugs expected

Patty Jamieson-Bell, Winnipeg Transit's acting finance manager, said the Peggo system is still being implemented and some bugs are to be expected.

She said the city does not know whether the number of Peggo complaints is consistent with complaints about transit fare-collection systems in other cities. She also said transit can not calculate how much revenue has been lost because of Peggo problems.

Transit union urges Winnipeg to part with Peggo cards

7 years ago

Duration 1:50

The head of Winnipeg's transit union is calling on the city to let go of its Peggo cards because of problems with the electronic fare-collection system.

Chaudharysaid the union haspegged that loss at up to $3million a year inlost fares a year, plus up to $2 million to repair and maintain the fare boxes.

Jamieson-Bell saidthey have no idea how the union arrived at such a figure. Winnipeg Transit is expecting a $10.7-million shortfall at the end of this year, mainly because of changes to the way the province funds the utility and reduced ridership, which they blamed on low gas prices.

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"It's an industry-accepted practice than when gas prices are low, ridership loss can be experienced," Ewankiw said, adding he expects ridership to rebound now that gas prices are on their way up.

The transit union also blames the Peggo system for creatingdisputes between riders and drivers.While Winnipeg Transit initially instructed bus drivers to confiscate defective Peggo cards, theunionadvised drivers to simply allow passengers with defective cards to ride for free,"said Everett Rudolph, acting executive vice-president for ATU1505.

"It's not the operator's job to enforce," said Rudolph, whose union is still reeling from the February killing of Irvine Jubal Fraser.

• Barriers around bus drivers, private transit cops could be legacy of Jubal Fraser killing

This spring, city council approved a transit-safety package that calls for fournew measures to protect drivers this year and three they could institute next year.

This year, transit plans to test safety barriers, launch a program to encourage customers to report safety problems, improve reporting of incidents to police and create a transit advisory committee to review how the service operates.

In 2018,the city could spend up to $710,000 to hire five full-time security staff, create new positions called "point duty officers," expand its surveillancesystem andhire one more instructor to train drivers to defuse conflict. The funding would also allow Winnipeg Transit to hire threenew drivers to allow the training to happen.

The 2018measures depend on council approval of next year'sbudget.