01-31-2020, 03:26 PM
(01-31-2020, 02:54 PM)timc Wrote:(01-31-2020, 02:31 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Yes, and the payments come off your paycheque. In the past this also meant that the pass was perpetual, instead of being a new piece of paper every month.
I think I understand why they do it — they just get a big monthly amount from UW, for example, rather than a bunch of individual payments. However, from the rider point of view, it would be better to just have a discount for signing up for a monthly pass paid by PAD like ones utilities etc., without tying it to the employer.
My corporate pass doesn't come off my paycheque. I have an EasyGO card, and the only difference are that there is a discounted price when I load the monthly pass on the EasyGO site, and that my fare card has my photo on it. I'm not sure why there is a photo--maybe to prevent sharing--but drivers never look at it anyway.
Before the fare cards, there was a different pass, but even then there were 3-, 6-, or 12-month options.
So you have to go to the EasyGO site explicitly every month to do it? That seems pointless. I should have said I was basing it on my experience when I had a corporate pass — I signed up at a session on campus at UW, they gave me a card, and every following month the price was taken off my pay. Very convenient — the pass just kept working with no special maintenance.
The only reason I can see to tie it to certain employers is if it is done as payroll deduction. If it’s done any other way, it should be open to everybody. And automatic debit should definitely be an option.