Montreal transit users are bracing for possible delays with another STM strike on the horizon that will stretch into the new year, but they will have something to look forward to in 2026: virtual OPUS cards. Testing is now underway to let passengers board the bus, metro and the REM with a tap of their smartphone and CTV News got a sneak peek at the new feature ahead of the launch. Montreal’s regional transit authority, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), is currently running a limited pilot project with a small group of users to test the new function before it will be made widely available to the public. It lets people validate fares with a digital version of their OPUS card on their phone, replacing the plastic card that has been in use for the last 20 years. The digital transformation project is part of the ARTM’s Concerto initiative to modernize the entire ticketing system. Last summer, it awarded a $146-million contract to Masabi, a U.K. company that has launched virtual fare systems in more than 200 cities. It’s a feature that has been used by transit agencies around the world for years and Montreal is now catching up. iPhone users are out of luck — for now. Only Android users can participate in the pilot project. Roughly 1,000 people are currently part of the test before the next wave expands it to 4,000 users in the coming weeks. At the heart of the ticketing transformation is the Chrono mobile app, which will not only let users purchase virtual fares but also store their OPUS card on the device. Once the funds are loaded, they can be used right away by waving the phone over the turnstiles. Why has it taken so long? Sylvain Perras, the ARTM’s executive director of digital transformation, said that they had to test new features on a gradual basis before releasing them all at once, and that the digital transition requires integrating several transit networks onto the same system. “We understand that the users expect that, and we were very open with this. So basically, what we’re doing now is trying to keep up,” said Perras, noting that the project involves updating 12,000 fare validators across the region. “So you need to do that in five territories. It concerns the STM, STL, RTL, EXO. It also includes the City of Montreal. So it’s a very huge project.” Trajectoire Québec, an advocacy group that promotes public transit in the province, believes the real reason why Montreal has fallen behind is because of a lack of funding for public transit in Quebec. “We have the second-oldest metro in the world after Mexico City. Toronto will replace the wagons after 40 years. For us, in the best-case scenario, it’s going to be after 60 years,” said spokesperson and co-general manager, Philippe Jacques. “So it was probably not a priority to have money going for that [digital transformation] project.” While he welcomes projects that make the bus and metro more user friendly, Jacques doesn’t believe it will have a big impact on the average user, other than making it more convenient for casual users who take public transit a few times a year. Trajectoire Québec would like to see more investments to add more bus and metro frequency and reliability on the transit network. “We saw with the strike what happens when there’s no metro running and no bus so it’s essential to Montreal to have the metro running and be efficient, so it has to be the priority for the government,” Jacques added. Since April 2024, transit users have been able to load fares onto their physical OPUS cards with the Chrono mobile app for iOS and Android devices. More than 40 per cent of fare purchases are now made using the mobile app. What do users think? Metro users who spoke to CTV News said they were enthusiastic about switching to a digital OPUS card. “I think yes, it’s going to be easier than [taking] out my wallet then [taking] my card out and scan. It’s going to be easier,” one user said inside the Square-Victoria-OACI station last week. “We’re in a period where everyone’s using their phones for everything. Apple Wallet or whatever it is, so I think it’s a good idea,” another said. “I would use it. Definitely.” However, there are some who still plan to hold onto the classic OPUS card. “I’m a bit old-fashioned so I’d rather have the card just because most of the time my phone does not have enough battery if I’m being honest,” one woman told CTV News. Digital transformations in Quebec are under more scrutiny following the scandal involving the Quebec auto insurance board’s SAAQclic project, which is costing taxpayers more than $1 billion — more than double the initial price tag, according to the province’s auditor general report. The ARTM maintains that the Concerto project is “overseen by a solid governance structure, monitored monthly by ARTM management and its board of directors,” spokesperson Maxime Duchesne wrote in an email. “An independent external auditor will be appointed to ensure transparent accountability.” The $146-million budget is also much lower than similar projects launched in New York and Australia, according to Duchesne, who attributed the savings to reusing existing equipment, “rigorous contract negotiations that reduced the cost by $95 million between the two calls for tenders,” among other measures. The ARTM says it is testing on Android first because it is an open-source operating system, making it easier to develop new apps. The ARTM says it is in talks with Apple and is hoping to add iPhone users to the pilot project next year. When will it fully launch to the public? “I wish I [could] give you an exact date,” said Perras, who would only commit to sometime in 2026. The next phase of the Concerto project is to test validating fares with Visa and Mastercard credit cards at the turnstiles, followed by debit cards. That, too, will be tested in 2026 if everything runs smoothly and could launch in the same year.
