Transit payment by phone begins
Some users of Android phones with the Chrono app should be able to pay their transit fares in Montreal with their device. The item says “certain” users but doesn’t say why only some users can do it.
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Kate
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David S 12:48 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
I think Chrono is still testing. The artm-chrono faq site says:
« Why can’t I see the virtual fares on my Android phone?
Virtual fares are being rolled out gradually. Some Android users may have access to the feature while others may not. Eventually, all Android users will have access to it. »
https://www.artm.quebec/en/chrono-faq/
Kate 13:05 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Thanks! As an iphone lifer I was unaware of that.
David S 13:14 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Haha! Also an iPhone lifer here, and went on their site to see if the option will be available to iPhone soon. Here is the answer from the same site:
« Why are virtual fares not available with an iOS phone?
We are currently working on the solution for iOS, in collaboration with Apple, and will communicate the next steps as soon as possible »
roberto 13:18 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
:/ I had to get a new 6$ OPUS card three weeks ago since the old one expiered june 30th. Can anyone explain why it expiered to begin with…
Mark Côté 14:51 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Wonder how many years will pass before we can finally just tap our phone wallets/credit cards to pay like in virtually every other city these days.
DeWolf 15:39 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Apparently the latest iOS update includes a virtual Opus card. The ARTM just needs to activate it. Hopefully that will happen before the end of the year.
Ephraim 18:15 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Meanwhile, almost everywhere I travel to, you just tap your phone and it works. Calculates which is the best fare for you and just charges the difference. Tap 3 days in a row and the week deal is best, it won’t charge you for the rest of the week, but will still let you tap on and off. Tap a few day on the next week and determine that the monthly deal is best, charges just that and you continue to tap on and off as a monthly pass holder.
Nicholas 23:08 on 2026-07-22 Permalink
Roberto, the idea is that when the card finally breaks it may do it right when you need it and then might not be readable so you’d lose everything you loaded on. But since you can register your card and get back your fares when you lose it, they already have a record of that so it’s not needed. And what ends up happening is it expires and stops working right when you need it. I think they should end this practice, but no one asked me.
dhomas 19:51 on 2026-07-23 Permalink
I’ve been beta testing the Chrono Virtual Fares since about September or October 2025. I hope they’ve worked out all the bugs. It’s happened that my account got messed up and my fares became inaccessible. The only fix was to contact customer service, who answered a few days later. In the meantime, I was without my fares. Since then, I always keep a backup physical card. That said, this WAS during the beta testing period. So they may have addressed those bugs (possibly based on my feedback). When it worked, it worked very well. I didn’t even need to turn on my phone for it to work.