The Fox Cities Transit Commission met 04/22/2025. They received an update on the implementation of Valley Transit’s new collection system and voted to approve daily and monthly fare caps for riders.
Going forward, riders will pay for no more than two rides per day even if they ride the bus more than that. Additionally, there is a monthly cap on costs for riders ranging from $22 for youths up to $60 for adults paying full fare.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
In November of 2024, the Transit Commission approved a request to purchase and implement a new fare collection system. This change was needed because the old system was obsolete and parts were no longer available for it. They moved to WisGo which was a new system created for and implemented by the Milwaukee County Transit System. It was designed to be a regional or statewide fare system, and Milwaukee had made it available for other transit systems to purchase and use.
Valley Transit had most of the equipment purchased and the engineering completed in order to install it. They planned to start installing the validators which are the machines the public will interact with on buses next month, but they would be covered up until they were ready to be turned on. Valley Transit staff were hoping to roll out the new system on September 1 in time for the start of the new school year. They planned to provide training and information to riders prior to that rollout date, but did not have anything scheduled at this point.
The commission was asked to approve the fare capping limits for the various fare categories. The daily fare cap was set at 2 rides, so a person who took 3 or more bus rides in a day would only be charged for two of them. The monthly fare caps ranged from $22 to $60 across the different fare categories.
Commissioner Greg VandeHey asked about the possibility of implementing an annual fare cap. General Manager Ron McDonald said that they could discuss that with WisGo, but he had not heard about anybody doing such a thing. He thought it was an interesting idea.
There were questions about the logistics of paying. At initial rollout, riders will be able to use either a mobile app or a reloadable, WisGo associated smartcard to make payments. In the future they would also like to be able to take payments from credit cards and things like Apple Watches, but that capability will not be available immediately.
General Manager McDonald said that the smart cards to pay fares were part of a nationwide contract and people could go to any CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart to reload them. Additionally, Valley Transit would be talking with other retail outlets to find out if they would be interested in offering that service.
Buses will also still accept cash for the foreseeable future, but General Manager McDonald said that it would be great if they could eliminate cash payment at some point.
It was noted that the WisGo fare collection system was used by Wilwaukee County Transit, Waukesha Transit, Racine Transit, Beloit Transit, and GO Transit in Oshkosh, so a rider who had a smart card could use it on any of those other systems. The fare-capping available in Appleton would not, however, apply to a rider from Appleton who used those other systems; rather, any fare capping associated with those other transit systems would be the ones that applied when riding those buses.
The commission members voted to recommend the fare capping rates be approved.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1290111&GUID=E66F22CA-8D58-4EF5-9E16-21B12B3BCC13
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