Montreal-area transit users can now reload Opus cards on a phone
This change was expected — and long overdue — but it's a breath of fresh air for Montreal-area transit users fed up of enduring long lineups to reload their Opus cards.
As of Wednesday, people can use the mobile app Chrono to buy tickets and passes on their phones, paying with credit and debit cards as well as Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Using the Chrono app, users can scan their Opus cards by holding them up against the back of their smartphones and then complete the transaction.
"This feature offers more flexibility to Opus cardholders," reads a statement from the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), the transit authority for the Montreal region.
Users will scan their OPUS cards through their phone cameras to see what transit passes or tickets they have and then select what they want to purchase. (Alice Chiche/Radio Canada)
The Chrono app also allows users to check the number of tickets left on their cards and check schedules for buses, the Metro, exo trains and the Réseau express métropolitain (REM).
In recent weeks, nearly 15,000 transit users in the region tried out the app to make sure it was ready for Wednesday's official launch. Last month, the ARTM said the success rate was around 94 per cent.
LISTEN | Exploring ways to improve the Opus card system:
Life after Opus cards
Despite the addition of this latest feature, the ARTM says the Opus card system is nearing its end.
The next system, referred to as Opus 2.0, will allow transit users to use their credit and debit cards as well as the virtual wallets in their phones to pay for bus, Metro, train and REM access.
Right now, people using Laval's transit service are able to pay with their bank and credit cards. The ARTM says that feature will start to become available in more regions as of this fall, and the goal is to roll out the Opus 2.0 system, which would include payments with smartphones, as early as 2026.
The ARTM says the call-for-tender process is already underway.
