Despite glitches, Peggo good to go

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This article was published 10/01/2020 (2095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After almost a seven-year saga, implementation and monitoring of Winnipeg Transit’s new fare collection system is nearly complete.

Before Kirk Cumming, manager of information systems with Winnipeg Transit, gave the city’s finance committee a Peggo progress report Friday, committee chair Scott Gillingham (St. James) drew some laughs when he noted: “This could be our year!”

Originally scheduled to be completed in 2013, the city’s Peggo transit smart card system was introduced in July 2016. It has experienced numerous glitches and delays, with cards not working in some cases, and overcharging or giving out free rides in others.

The new automatic fare collection system had a total budget of $17.4 million, laid out in 2011.

Cumming said transit is now on its final milestone: successful completion of a six-month operational performance test, which is expected to be finished next month.

He said the project, in its entirety, has given significant benefits to customers.

“There’s a whole host of customer improvements that have resulted, and while the project has had challenges, I think it’s good not to lose sight of the fact that now we have a lot of things available to our customers that we didn’t have before,” Cumming said, counting bus passes with rolling start times as an example.

“There’s a whole host of customer improvements that have resulted, and while the project has had challenges, I think it’s good not to lose sight of the fact that now we have a lot of things available to our customers that we didn’t have before.”

-Kirk Cumming, manager of information systems with Winnipeg Transit

Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) asked Cumming about whether the Peggo smart card technology is still up to snuff. Many other North American cities have moved to cell phone apps and/or debit or credit card systems to pay fares on buses.

Cumming said transit has been mulling those next steps internally, considering mobile or “open” payment system options (“open” systems include tapping options for debit or credit cards).

Costs of such new perks aren’t yet clear, though Cumming told reporters many mobile and open systems rely on subscription methods. Those would mean less up-front cost to the city, but more long-term payments back to third parties.

“They wouldn’t necessarily replace the current system, but they would be a complement to it. They would be something that allows for another option. These are things that we’re actively exploring,” Cumming told the committee.

With a tough 2020 budget deliberation process underway, Gillingham made clear that more bells and whistles for transit aren’t necessarily in the cards.

“I don’t see it as being an immediate focus, but inevitably down the line here, any upgrades, any new technology will be something our department needs to look at,” he said.

The public service is also finalizing a new type of transit pass for visitors to Winnipeg. Cumming said paper cards are ready to go and transit is getting to work on a marketing plan for such cards, which would be aimed at tourists.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu