Winnipeg Transit receiving a 'reasonable amount of complaints' regarding Peggo cards

Peggo card problems Michelle Gerwing on some Winnipeg residents having issues using their Peggo cards.

It's been a few months since the city introduced the reloadable transit fare card called Peggo.

Just like anything new, not every transit rider using the tap-and-go card is happy.

Zac Gear said he tried using Peggo for two weeks, but due to a few reoccurring problems, he’s since gone back to paper passes.

"A lot of the funds aren't initially available to you when you first put them on the card so you're waiting 24-hours sometimes in order to actually be able to use your card," he said.

Gear said it took him weeks to register the reloadable transit fare card online and connect to the database. Many times the tap function didn't work.

Gear said he filed a complaint with the city and describes the card as inconvenient.

"You don't necessarily have the change and, you know, you're expecting the system to work and it doesn't," he said.

Since the launch in July, Winnipeg Transit has logged more than 700 complaints about Peggo, which is about seven per day.

A reasonable number said Jonathan Borland, information supervisor with Winnipeg Transit, who explained there are 300 new cards purchased every day.

"The Peggo card is something completely new for Winnipeg so there is going to be a learning curve with this," Borland said.

Borland said one of the most common concerns comes from riders who don't tap their card every day.

"’It's been two or three days since I loaded my card but my fare doesn't seem to be there,” he said, describing the concerns he has heard.

“Often times if they see a message that says it’s pending, it means the fares are waiting for you and you just have to tap your card on the fare box and it'll be good."

At Patrick Chants' convenience store some riders come back to where they bought it when the card doesn't work 3 to 5 times a week.

Chant uses that Peggo card too and says it's only failed him once.

"So I just waited a bit and placed it on the reader again and that time it read," he said.

Many riders CTV news spoke with Thursday like the card so far.

Zac Gear would like the kinks he experiences to be ironed out before he picks his Peggo card back up again.

"The bus driver seemed to be aware of the issue so I imagine I am not the only one that was having that problem," Gear said.

Winnipeg Transit will be reviewing the Peggo card system in late fall.

Based on those results, a date to eliminate all paper passes and tickets will be chosen.