So this evening I had a bit of a disappointment with MetroTransit and their test run of the GoTo Card. So here's the e-mail letter I sent to them.

Dear MetroTransit,

I was really excited when I saw the flyer last week saying that the GoTo Card was going to be test run and that I could join. After work at the 28th St. Station in Bloomington, I went up to the people enrolling us in the test. I've heard a lot about the GoTo Card and would love to try it out.

But when I showed the volunteers that I was currently using a Monthly Mobility Pass (the $21 version), they said, "That might be cheaper," and urged me to stick with that. I left shortly thereafter because the train was coming. For the record, I hope that is not the long-term solution, because we need the convenience of the GoTo Card too.

I suspect, though, that it was the fact that the volunteers did not know all the details. I know for a fact that I could get .50 per ride, at least on the light rail, because I've played around with the buttons on the GoTo Card Reader machine.

So could I enroll in the test? If so, is there a place to sign up? Please, if possible, get back to me soon so that I don't start a new monthly pass on the 26th.

Thanks,

Dan Ficker

I'll update this post if I recieve a reply or any new information.

UPDATE: I just talked to somebody at the Mall of America Transit Station that seemed to know a bunch more than the volunteers yesterday. He said that right now the GoTo Cards only support the functionality of the SuperSaver Stored Value cards. Right now, the GoTo Cards will not do a monthly pass thing. Since that's currently what I use, I opted to stick with the SuperSavers. He did say they'd be running a monthly pass test group in November or December.

He also made it sound like you'd have to get a separate card to do the monthly pass. I'd originally heard that you could have a monthly pass and some stored value on the same card, for example if you're paying for yourself and a friend. So who knows.