Waukesha Joins Milwaukee’s Transit Fare System

WisGo. Image from MCTS.

Waukesha Metro, the transit system for the City of Waukesha, has officially switched to the same fare collection system as the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS).

Waukesha Metro launched the new fare collection system on Monday. The system’s riders have been able to pay their fares through WisGO since early June, but now Waukesha Metro is making the full switch to WisGo as their only fare collection app. Waukesha’s is the first transit system to join MCTS in using WisGo.

“We’re proud to make transit in the region easier through one, simplified payment system and look forward to modernizing how our people get to important destinations such as work, school and medical appointments through WisGo,” Mayor Shawn Reilly said in a statement.

Milwaukee’s new bus rapid transit service, called Connect 1, was, in part, the impetus for the new fare collection system. Connect 1 employs a number of technologies that are new for the transit system, including off-bus fare validators and real-time bus arrival signs.

MCTS rolled out WisGO in March this year in the lead-up to the launch of Connect 1 and, at the time, Mayor Reilly announced that his city’s transit system would accept fares from the new mobile app connected to WisGo. This allowed riders of the former GoldLine who took the route to Brookfield to transfer from Connect 1 to Waukesha’s Metro 1 using the same payment system.

“Employers continually expressed to me the need for uncomplicated ways for their employees to get to work,” Reilly said in March. “Adding Waukesha Metro to the WisGo system is an important step to help employees throughout the region by making it easier for riders to get to their jobs using transit.”

Brian Engleking, transit manager for the City of Waukesha, said many of their transit riders have been paying fares with WisGo and “the feedback we’ve received from riders has been very positive.”

WisGo and the Umo mobile app allow riders more ways to pay beyond cash or a fare card, though those are still accepted. Riders using the new system can also pay with credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. WisGo’s fare-capping feature will also be available in Waukesha. This feature automatically limits the fare a ride pays at daily, weekly and monthly rates. For example, a rider cannot spend more than $4 a day, $19.50 a week or $72 a month.

Waukesha Metro riders have until April 2024 to make the transition to WisGo via the mobile app or a new WisGo card.