Journalists: Do more than cut and paste
I don’t know whether this tendency can be blamed on AI, or just lazy writers.
TimeOut ran a piece about what it calls a virtual Opus card, the upcoming new STM fare system. The piece is brief and appears to be mostly a recap of the STM’s own PR handout, but it doesn’t ask any interesting questions, like whether people paying the student fare, or older people riding for free, will be able to use it.
And then Saturday, TVA has a hand-wavy piece about alternatives to the REM, which won’t be running this weekend. Little actual information is given, hints like “L’ARTM recommande aux usagers de planifier leurs déplacements à l’avance” not getting us anywhere. Then there’s a link to the REM page.
If journalists (is this journalism, or simple content provider work?) are going to write articles, they need to make an effort to add some value to the bare bones of the PR handout they’re working from.
(Although, to be fair, this isn’t a great time of year to get a response to a querying email or phone call.)
Blork 14:36 on 2025-12-27 Permalink
You basically answer your own question; this demonstrates one of the main the differences between “content creation” and journalism.
We could dig a little deeper and ask what is the motivation behind the piece. If it’s “content” the primary motivation is to fill the space and capture attention for a minute (ultimately to land a few ads). If it’s journalism the primary motivation is to inform.
You could argue that the “journalism” is also just there to land ads, but I would counter that landing ads is not the journalist’s motivation; it’s the publication’s motivation. Less so with “content creators” because their income and/or credibility is directly linked to how well they capture attention and land those ads.
Mozai 15:23 on 2025-12-27 Permalink
I often use the name “news-like entertainment product,” but the bland beige “content” seems more appropriate because copy-pasting their peers seems more like sawdust than sugar.
Blork 14:04 on 2025-12-28 Permalink
Regarding the virtual Opus card, it will be fantastic for people who use Opus with a monthly pass. I don’t know what the ratio of monthly:per-use is, but I suspect that most users go monthly. But questions remain about pay-per-use users.
I suspect it will work for per-use users with simple use cases, such as those who always stay within Zone A. But for other users, like me, I doubt it will work well at all. Admittedly I’m probably an edge case, but I currently need THREE separate Opus cards. OK, I could get by with two, but I need three to get the best value.
In my case I’m 65+ (side note: age is not just a number) and I “operate” in both Zone A and Zone B, primarily moving from one to the other. In theory, a single A+B card would cover all my needs, but (a) that would not give me the free Longueuil transit I get from my 65+ Zone B/Longueuil/RTL card, and (b) it would mean paying the premium A+B price when I’m only using the card within Zone A (such as going from McGill to Mont-Royal by Metro).
Also, the A+B card is supposed to get me from my local RTL bus to the Longueuil Metro, on to the Metro all on one ticket. (Ditto going the other way.) But several times it has taken an extra fare when I’ve done that. So I now use my “free” RTL Opus card to get me to the Metro in Longueuil, then use my A+B card from there (and ditto going the other way). If I’m in the city and want to do a Zone A only ride, I use my Zone A card. (I use a Sharpie to write on the cards so I can tell them apart easily.)
The gist of it is simply that in a non-standard use case the system doesn’t know what my intentions are since it is tap-in only, not tap-in/tap-out.
But whatever. I’ve got my system figured out and it works for me. The big advance for me was being able to add tickets via the Chrono app. That was a total game changer.
steph 16:02 on 2025-12-28 Permalink
Three cards is very edge case, but two cards is VERY common for everyone I know on the south shore. They need their AB card, and keep an A card for Montreal only trips. Two is still one too many.
Tee Owe 18:19 on 2025-12-28 Permalink
@Blork London, Oyster – copy – how can this be so complicated?
Kate 19:37 on 2025-12-28 Permalink
London has tap out, though. We’ve never had that, so our fare system is not collecting as much data.
You can go to Laval or Longueuil on a card with Zone A tickets only, but you can never go home again. It’s very sad.
MarcG 09:15 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
I typed up some comments about the ludicrosity of our fare system when other cities have had superior tech for decades but realized I’d said it all before.
@Kate, there are literally villages of displaced persons growing around the Montmorency and Longueuil metros. We need to get these people home ASAP.
dhomas 12:58 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
The virtual OPUS card allows for multiple OPUS cards on the same phone via the Chrono app. You need to “activate” the OPUS you want to use, but once that is done, it works even when your screen is off. You only need to access the app again when you need to change OPUS card / fare.
Source: I beta tested the app and this was one of the things they asked a lot of questions on to make sure it was functioning correctly.
Kate 14:13 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
MarcG, I agree. Something must be done!
steph 15:07 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
@Kate. physically you can, but you can get caught and fined. They can (and do) check fares getting off the Longueuil/Laval Metro, and if you don’t have the appropriate fare validated – that’s a fine! The metro always plays back a “Last stop for Zone A, please have the appropriate fare to continue” message
Tee Owe 15:58 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
@Kate – ‘London has tap out, though. We’ve never had that’ – you make it seem inevitable – why can’t that be implemented? Also, London doesn’t have tap-out on shorter bus journeys, they just apply a standard fare. I confess i don’t know all the details of their system, except that it’s superbly user-friendly. Worth copying IMO.
Blork 16:57 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
dhomas, activation switching sounds like an engineering workaround more than a practical application of the tool. How many clicks and swipes does it take to switch? Can you tell at a glance (without clicking and swiping) which card it is set to as you approach the turnstile?
I doubt it. Frankly, I’d rather just pick between physical cards, which takes two seconds, than open phone, swipe, swipe, click, click, swipe, click, click, click ever time I want to use it.
Kate 19:03 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
Tee Owe, new devices for every turnstile in every station? Cost a pretty penny.
Yes, I’m sure ours could be improved. Not saying it couldn’t. But, $$$
MarcG 19:30 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
I went into a metro station for the first time in almost 6 years a few weeks ago and it looked to me like the turnstiles had been replaced in the interval – am I wrong?
CE 19:57 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
They replaced the turnstiles with readers a few years ago. It seems like they’ve been there for a long time but I guess six years is a long time. I think the new readers are supposed to be able to read the next generation or cards. One big improvement is that they read the cards immediately. It took a little while to get used to not doing the little pause between tapping the card and going through the turnstile. On the bus it made a noticeable difference for boarding times.
CE 19:58 on 2025-12-29 Permalink
I truly hope they don’t eventually phase out cards and make it so you have to use a phone to pay for transit. I often leave the house without my phone and would hate to be forced to carry it around at all times to be able to travel.
dhomas 08:11 on 2025-12-30 Permalink
@Blork I just checked. Here is a quick rundown:
Open Chrono app
Click “Virtual Fares” button
Swipe to “secondary” virtual OPUS
Click “Activate”
Still quite a few steps. For me, it’s acceptable as I rarely travel off-island. For someone who needs to switch often, it might be better to keep a virtual card plus a physical one, to avoid switching in-app.