Transit union wants audit of problem-plagued, money-losing Peggo system

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This article was published 08/02/2018 (2798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The union representing Winnipeg Transit workers is calling for an audit of the Peggo fare-card system after riders were overcharged more than $72,000 last week in what city hall is calling an auto-reload “glitch.”

Aleem Chaudhary, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, said the audit is necessary to determine if there have been other instances of overpayments that Transit has failed to acknowledge.

“For too long, we’ve been cutting corners at Winnipeg Transit. When we invested in an obsolete system with the Peggo card, we ensured that the technology that we use would be prone to glitches of this nature,” Chaudhary said.

“From service levels that frankly aren’t acceptable for a growing city like Winnipeg to this latest snafu, it is evident that we need to invest in our transit system today for the Winnipeg of tomorrow.”

Chaudhary has been critical of the fare-card system and earlier called on Transit to dump the technology and replace it with something else.

A Transit spokeswoman confirmed that 36 Winnipeggers were hit with phantom Peggo purchases adding up to roughly $72,000 last week, which was attributed to a “glitch” in the auto-reload feature.

Transit claimed all affected riders had been contacted and refunds processed on their cards but one rider who had $12,000 billed to his credit card told the Free Press that Transit had not contacted him.

Scott Hazlitt said Transit has refunded only $3,700 of the $11,500 it billed for reloads on his Peggo card.

It is the latest in a long list of Peggo problems dating back to Transit’s decision to implement the system, which went into operation in July 2016, three years behind schedule. Riders tap the reloadable Peggo card — similar to a debit card — against an electronic reader, replacing the need for paper tickets and transfers.

And there were issues with the technology when the readers were first installed on city buses; Transit refused to put the system in operation until the manufacturer resolved the issues, but officials have acknowledged there have been delays in the readers recognizing when cards have been reloaded online, and there have been disputes with riders over cards suddenly losing record of payment.

Transit has withheld about $2 million from the original $18-million purchase price as the problems persist.

Chaudhary said previously that Transit is losing $7,000 to $7,500 in fare revenue in disputes with riders over card balances and an additional $500,000 annually in unnecessary maintenance costs.

“Transit needs to be upfront regarding a number of growing issues within the system, especially if Winnipeg Transit riders are overpaying,” said Chaudhary, who will be addressing news media later today on the issue.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca